Anime Car Wars: Green Circle Blues
by Fortune Hunter
Summary: A certain food processing plant in Seattle is held under siege by an environmental terrorist group. Only a ragtag group of mercenaries and spies can stop the terrorists' plan of making the first nuclear sneak attack of the 21st century.
1. The die has been cast

Alright, everyone. Chapter three is now up and running. This is the chapter where Sousuke gets the needed back up for his escort mission to Seattle.

You would certainly be surprised to see who I put as his back up though. I also included three cameos from an obscure animè plus one OC or other character.

Thankfully, this chapter has no gory fight scenes like those mentioned in the previous chapter so this one is more child-friendly, I hope.

Oh well, just read and enjoy.

Legend: _**words in bold ital****ic**_ - billboard advertisement " words" - spoken dialog 'words' - thoughts or spoken words in quotation **words in bold** - quote of the chapter

* * *

**"The things I'm gonna do for my country."** - Xander Cage, XXX

Chapter 3 – **A Hero's Work is Never Done**

In a span of ten minutes, the Arbalest had reached the freeway exit for fortress city of Pendleton. The gray car turned right at Exit 213 before heading towards the town proper where the truck stop is located.

The billboards had pointed to its location at the junction of Route 30 and Road 900. One of the billboards actually read as follows:

* * *

_**Most Complete Ammo Stocks in Eastern Oregon**_

_**24-Hour Repairs**_

_**10,000 Real Burgers Sold**_

* * *

The truck stop itself is huge, covering about a hectare of land at best. It is composed of two large buildings and a steel canopy covering the open space where the charging generators are located. It is also bounded by ten feet high concrete fences on all four sides.

On each of its four corners is a turret, placed there in case of a gang attack. The building's brown roofs are tiled and also tilted at a 45 degree angle to accommodate rain and snow runoffs.

The larger of the two buildings housed the restaurant and convenience center while the other building housed the four car garage, its small office, and an ammunition and weapons store. All of these are found on the ground floor.

Tinted and bullet proof windows at said building's second floor indicated that it is also used for office spaces.

Another large sign (about thirty feet up) is placed at the farthest edge to the left of the entrance. On it were the words, Pendleton Truck Stop. As with those from La Grande, an eight inch diameter steel pole supported the said sign's weight.

The Vanquish had parked first in front of the just vacated space in front of a charging generator. Sousuke disembarked as he went to the garage to ask for a mechanic.

It was just his luck that a mechanic had just finished repairing another duel car and was now about to report his work accomplishment and the parts involved to the garage's cashier in the small office at the garage's right. The car being worked on is driven out of the garage by the elderly couple owning it.

He then followed the beefy mechanic to the cashier's booth before discussing the costs and time involved to fix the Arbalest.

"Is your car that gray Aston Martin over there?" The mechanic asked as he pointed at the Arbalest.

"That is an affirmative. So how much would it cost me and more importantly, how long will it take?"

The mechanic gave the car a once over as the attendant began removing the charging plug and replaced it back in its slot.

"From that much exterior damage not ta mention the busted weaponry and the missing spoiler, it'll take about two and a half hours, and that's with all the crew working on it. " He looked at the mercenary sternly as the latter was suddenly sweating nervously at having to wait that long to have the car fixed. "But since I'm alone at the moment, it'll take me a good eight hours tops jus' to finish it."

After seeing the anxious face of the mercenary, he said with a sigh. "I'll tell you what. I can fix about half the total damage, replace the rear spoiler, and also fix the smokescreen in just three hours but I'll need your help. Other than that, there's nothin' else I can do."

Seeing the mercenary's hung face, he added with a grimace. " Sorry, sport."

"Alright, I will help you fix it since my companion and I have an important business meeting early tomorrow morning." The mercenary replied before turning back to the car.

To him, it was the best course of action at the moment. He only hoped that Green Circle would let them through to Seattle from this point forward.

He returned to his seat and told the salt and pepper haired scientist the bad news.

"Ah, damn it. Just as long as we can get back on the road soon is fine by me. But we have to complete the repairs at the next truck stop or we may never even reach Seattle at all," Mardukas said in a heated reply before exiting the car himself in a huff and heading for the restaurant.

-oOo-

As Sousuke again re-entered the spacious four car garage, this time with the Arbalest, he asked about the bandit activity in the route ahead.

The garage was full of vehicles that were either having the armors fixed, having their weapons replaced or having their power plants being maintained.

On the lightly colored ceiling and walls were the various machines and tools used by the mechanics for the jobs stated above.

On the concrete floor were the automated pneumatic jacks are installed for repairs on the car's underside along with the three feet deep rectangular depressions for the mechanics to move around in as they fix the car's wheels and/or under carriages.

"Well, I can't say much other than the strange attacks in the interstate between Baker and La Grande. But since you just came from there, I was hopin' ya woulda known more about it more than I do." answered the African American man as he re-patched the damaged outer laser proof armor.

"Affirmative, I do know some details about it." Sousuke said quietly. "It would seem that some 'enterprising' men had placed an anti-tank gun to cover the zigzag part of the interstate in the mountains between Baker and La Grande. They used the said weapon as their leverage against travelers in that specific route to force the latter group into paying them a thousand dollars in exchange for safe passage."

"I see. I'll spread the word on this end and hopefully, the Oregon highway patrol will give **them** the business."

After a half-hour has passed, the lanky mechanic asked Sousuke if he was hungry. The mercenary again answered in the affirmative as he wiped his sweaty brow with a dirty rag given to him by his working companion.

As the first mechanic arrived with a round plate full of ham and cheese sandwiches, the other six mechanics had arrived from the cashier's office in the right side of the garage. They too offered to help out so that the first two men could enjoy a needed break.

The first mechanic said that they could fix the remaining damage in an hour.

After resting for just ten minutes, the mercenary then headed for the garage's office to pay for the repairs.

After paying for the repairs, he walked towards the still open ammunition store to re-stock his car's depleted weapon magazines.

-oOo-

As he entered the store, he immediately noticed five overhead cabinets filled with every kind of ammunition for all common weaponry like machine guns and Vulcan machine guns. There was even a spot for lesser known ammunition like Gauss gun needles and blast cannon rounds.

As for the weapons themselves, only a select few were visible due to space constraints. Instead, a thick catalog was placed on top of the glass cabinet beside the cashier's table. In its pages were colored pictures, textual data and discounted prices for all the weapons and ammunition on sale.

Also inside the glass cabinet's shelves were small bore weapons like machine guns, auto cannons, and lasers. Some discharged weapons like mines were also placed for variety.

Sousuke had bought two boxes worth of high density machine gun ammunition and another box full of Gauss ammunition. He then placed an order for two boxes of smokescreen charges as it was the first to be used up in all the road battles he had been involved with since leaving Boise.

The teenage clerk also helped him carry the five boxes back to the garage where they would be loaded to the weapon magazines by the mechanics.

Satisfied with the results, the mercenary then headed for the restaurant so he can tell the scientist that the car would be road ready in an hour or so. As he entered the restaurant's double doors, Sousuke's nose caught the smell of freshly baked apple pies and newly cooked Creamed Chicken.

So he made a slight detour towards the brightly lit counter and ordered a chocolate pudding and three cups of freshly brewed coffee. After he paid his order, he joined the elderly scientist in his table nearest the large perma-glass windows.

Richard did not even notice his presence as he was busy reading his newly bought newspaper. In front of him was a plate filled with half-eaten Oriental Chicken sandwiches.

'Excuse me, Sir but why are you not eating. We will be leaving Pendleton in about thirty minutes," The mercenary had broken the silence between him and the scientist as he was curious at the older man's indifference to his light meal.

The elder scientist may have not heard the question due to the noise that ranged from people talking as they eat their meals, the radio speakers loudly blaring in the corners of the ceiling, and the shouting cashiers from the counter as they took orders from the still waiting customers were still overwhelming.

It was either all that or he just plain ignored it altogether.

"Sir, I said we are leaving in an hour. Please finish your served meal," The mercenary tried again as the waiter had just set down his own order. The newspaper quivered a bit as Richard replied in a calm voice with a hint of exasperation.

"I heard you the first time, Sousuke. I will finish my meal right after I finish this article I'm reading first."

"Sorry, Sir. Still, don't you find it strange that this place is still full of people even though it is already eleven o' clock in the evening?"

"It may be that most of the customers have just arrived here just like us but will instead stay at the local hotels. And that would be good news for us since we would not encounter as much traffic as we would have if we had arrived here earlier."

In the midst of their conversation, neither the mercenary nor the scientist noticed the bespectacled couple nearing them until a slender gloved hand came upon Sousuke's armored right shoulder.

"Are these seats taken?" A random person whose brown gloved hand was on Sousuke's right shoulder. The dark haired young men turned around to see the amused face of Primary Response Team Technical Sergeant Shinji Kazama.

He was originally with the communications team before he was re-assigned to the assault team for his knowledge in technical matters as well as strategy. Both of which were sorely needed in the field.

Behind the bespectacled Mithril Technical Sergeant was his brown haired fiancée, Staff Sergeant Kyoko Tokiwa. Both of them were wearing light blue improved body armor.

Kyoko was the newest addition to Mithril's ever growing field personnel, and Shinji's partner in their shared PRT missions involving counter strikes against powerful road gangs and some local terrorists. She was formerly a gutsy newspaper reporter and photographer before she joined Mithril.

Her last scoop had nearly gotten herself killed as she tried to cover a local shoot out between a combined Mithril and FBI counter terrorist group and a tough cycle gang that holed itself up in a bank.

The latter group also took some hostages that they had used as human shields which they placed in front of the bank's front door.

The bandits did this in their attempt to escape the growing number of agents surrounding the bank. It was only when one of the gang members had spotted the brunette reporter taking their pictures with her Nikon camera that all hell finally broke loose.

It was the shouts of one of the policemen for Kyoko to get out of the battle zone that had alerted him to the reporter's presence.

The human shields had taken advantage of the unplanned distraction to run towards the waiting officers. One of them, gray haired man in his sixties, had suddenly tripped on the sidewalk just in front of the bank.

Since they were the nearest to the fallen man, both Kyoko and Shinji ran toward him while the other agents gave them a barrage of cover fire.

In their haste to rescue the old man, neither the reporter nor the mercenary had noticed that a trigger happy gang member had broken the window nearest to where the old man was lying before taking a shot at the old man with his AK-47.

The reporter was the first to reach the old man and braced herself for the inevitable as she covered the old man's body with her lightly armored own.

Luckily for her, her future fiance took the hit that was meant for her and her charge. Sousuke had tagged the bandit with a well placed head shot and then joined the others in their chase against the rest of the remaining gang members.

The chase was made through the nearby cleared streets both on foot and on vehicles.

To make up for her nearly fatal mistake, the reporter had stayed with the injured mercenary as he was being ferried to the nearest hospital by the ambulance that was also called during the siege. She even visited him in his hospital bed whenever she had some free time.

Slowly but surely, their relationship has evolved from that of a shaky friendship to that of true love.

"Shinji...and Kyoko too, it has been a long time since we last met. How're you two doing?" Sousuke stood up to let Kyoko sit at his right as Shinji sat beside the scientist who moved to his left.

"We're alright. We have been told to back you up, Sousuke. Luckily for us, you made a brief stop here in Pendleton." Shinji said first as he motioned for a waiter to bring his and his fiancée's order to their shared table.

"If you didn't, we would have met you in the I-90 just before Ellensburg." Kyoko finished for her fiance.

"That is good news, Sousuke. I was glad that the fax I had sent to Portland before we met in Boise was answered quickly," Richard added as his wrinkled face suddenly brightened with uncharacteristic glee.

Sousuke was stunned for a minute as he felt a bit of jealousy at Shinji for having a wonderful girlfriend and now fiancée while he lost his own thanks to his line of work.

"What about your fax, sir?" The three mercenaries chorused.

"I'll tell you all about it later. For now, let us eat as we are still midway to our objective." The scientist ordered as he began to eat his sandwich with new found relish.

"Yes sir." Both Shinji and Kyoko replied as they too started to eat. Sousuke already had his fill and was now sipping one of the three coffee cups in front of him.

-oOo-

By the time all four travelers had finished his or her respective meals; they immediately stood up and headed for the door.

As they were about to exit the restaurant, an eight year old boy had pushed the door inward. The immediate effect was the toppling of the three mercenaries and a scientist to the concrete floor with the only girl of the four being on top of the accidental dog pile.

"Can all of you please stand up? You're all very heavy, y' know." Sousuke had spoken with difficulty from his position at the bottom of the pile.

"How rude of you, Sousuke Sagara to even tell a lady like me that she is heavy," The brown haired girl replied as she whacked the mercenary on the exposed part of his head.

The orange haired boy instantly knelt in front of them and started pleading for their assistance.

"Please, please help rescue Grandpa Waybridge. He's trapped somewhere in his old shack behind the truck stop," The orange haired boy said to the four people he bumped with as all of them were standing up and dusting themselves off.

"Calm yourself down, little guy. We'll help you. Am I right, everyone?" Shinji's hard jawed facial expression hinted that doing so was the best thing to do in this situation.

"You can count on us, little boy. Now lead us to your grandfather," The scientist added as he was surprised at how scary the glasses wearing PRT operative could be when he is serious.

"I am **not** a little boy, sir. My name is Ryu Isami and Grandpa Winston isn't my real great grandfather but he is pretty close to being one," the boy replied as he ran to the lot behind the truck stop. The soon to be heroes found themselves temporarily stymied at the latter portion of the boy's sentence.

As for the other customers, they either stayed put or followed the mercenaries to help put out the fire. Most of the restaurant's crew also left quickly, leaving a few to mind the store in the meantime.

"A hero's work is never done," Sousuke muttered under his breath as he and the others ran behind the boy to catch up with him.

They ran past the truck stop's rear steel gate on the way to the sparsely wooded field, just two hundred yards, from the truck stop's concrete walls.

The girl's twin braids that were tied by green ribbons flew behind her as she ran alongside the scientist as the other two nearly caught up with the boy.

* * *

When they arrived at the wooden shack, its back and roof was already engulfed in orange flames. The only reason it did not fully engulf the shack itself was that the entire neighborhood was already fighting it bucket-brigade style.

A few locals even pulled a water wagon from the back of a nearby house. Still it was slow going since the iron axles connecting the wheels had gotten rusty from years of disuse. This made it so hard to move even if five people were pushing it from behind.

Sousuke ran inside as he saw a hunched silhouette amidst the smoke filled interior. He ignored his companion's cries to stop since from what he could see - the figure may be injured and in desperate need of help.

He covered his mouth with his white handkerchief on his right hand as he went in the burning shack.

The grayish mist parted as he continued inside, his sharp hearing had caught the faint sound of coughing coming from his left.

When he followed the sound, he came across a gray-haired old man that was leaning on one of the walls, his head low as he coughed on his left hand. The man still towered over him even if the latter was now crouching to get his head below the acrid smoke.

Seeing the mercenary, he asked quietly. "Who are you?"

"I will tell you later. Right now, I have to lead you out of this place." The mercenary replied as he hefted the old man on his left shoulder and slowly led him out of the shack.

"Thank goodness, Sousuke. For a second there, we were worried that you wouldn't come out." Kyoko gushed as she embraced the nearing young man.

She and the others had helped pull the water wagon to its present location. The said wagon was now already making itself useful by pumping gallons of slightly chlorinated tap water at the burning shack, dousing some of the flames in the process.

"I'm alright, Kyoko. Now help me lower him down to the blanket," Sousuke answered as he pointed at the light brown blanket that Shinji was currently laying down on the dry ground."

"Wait, where is my great-grandson? Where's Ryu?" The old man wailed as he suddenly sat up in panic.

"He's um…" Shinji started to say when a shrill voice had startled him.

"I'm here, Grandpa Winston. I went to the back of the burning shack hoping to rescue you. It's a good thing, Mr. Sagara found you before I did." piped a little voice from behind them.

The gray haired owner of the truck stop turned around to see his only great-grandson covered with black soot but still alright. He hugged the little boy while saying thank you over and over again.

The boy's chubby face turned redder than a ripe tomato as he tried to push himself from his grandfather's tight embrace.

The other adults tried to hide their laughter only to lose it completely when they saw the boy's face turning purple in both embarrassment and lack of air.

To Ryu's relief, his great-grandfather had let him go so he can thank the people who helped put out the fire. The fire trucks had also arrived just in time to put out the rest of the flames before they were spread to the woodlands beyond by a passing wind.

* * *

A grateful truck stop owner led the new heroes back to the restaurant, where an impromptu party was later held. Joining them in the celebrations were all the volunteers that put out the fire.

Even though wine was served freely, neither the mercenaries nor the scientist drank much (maybe a wine glass or two at most). Their excuse was that they had to arrive in Seattle by eight o' clock this very day.

They did accept offers of food that they would bring along their journey. Kyoko was even given a pretty coral necklace by Ryu's elated mother – Hime Isami. She and her dark-haired husband had arrived just in time to witness the rescue of her husband's step grandfather from the fire.

After thanking the group for their quick action, Yuu Isami even offered some weapons and ammunition from the shop he owned in the truck stop. Shinji only took with him two extra boxes of high density machine gun ammunition since he had a feeling it would surely be needed later.

Two hours later or two in the morning, all four heroes had to leave the truck stop. The orange haired owner of the restaurant had also given them some apple pies she had made at her home just before leaving to pick up her only son in the restaurant.

She even tried to add a few more pastries for the occupants of the forest green Acura TSX, but her dark haired husband had pulled her into a lingering kiss just long enough for the Altron to get into gear and escape in a squeal of tires.

* * *

Sousuke took a peek at the car convoying with the Arbalest. He did not remember Shinji having an Acura before. He reasoned that his best friend's old Infinity must have been destroyed in yet another mission sometime after their shared mission only a year ago.

The green Accura had two machine guns just underneath its headlights. On its roof is the visible signs of a pop up turret.

"Shinji, may I ask what your new car's armaments are?" The mercenary asked his old teammate.

"Sure thing, Sousuke. My car's pop up turret is outfitted with a pulse laser. Altron even has a smokescreen at the rear for quick escapes. The front machine guns are also linked, if you're asking.

"Alright, so when did you change your car and where is the old one right now?"

"Oh yeah, my old green Infinity G35 (Aesculapius) was totally busted when I covered some escaping local Mithril agents from some heavy fire in a nearly botched mission back in Texas. " The bespectacled mercenary answered on the "airwaves". "I was told that there was a serious intelligence leak at the Austin branch, but we got the said leak and his friends behind bars during the follow up operation. The Austin office even gave me Altron as thanks for my role there as well as compensation for my lost car."

Both Mithril exclusive vehicles were given a newly commissioned laser communication system for short range communications.

This system is best used for exclusive communication between two Mithril teams on separate duel cars. Unfortunately, it is a line of sight system thus it could only used when they are in the other car's proximity.

They had taken the routes Oregon 37 and 730 from Pendleton on their way to the I-82 near the state border between Oregon and Washington. The roads were narrow, just two lanes on both sides of the highway, but perfectly acceptable.

It took them an hour to get to the turnoff to I-82. Still it was worth it to have a beautiful nighttime view on the Colombia River and the McNary Dam, which they later crossed.

Past the dam, the I-82 still looks undeveloped. Kyoko explained that the I-82 was supposed to link up with I-84 further south but it was never done due to unknown reasons. There were rumors that a brutal attack by local gangs had the construction halted indefinitely.

Sousuke then remembered the road report given to him back at Boise and told everyone what he had learned from the AADA office.

There were stretches that were never finished, overpasses only a lane wide in some places, and stripped and rusted hulks of heavy construction equipment littered all over the highway.

Not to mention, there were potholes measuring two to three feet in diameter, chunks of concrete as big as television sets, and parts of road that were partly or never concreted at all.

The convoy did their best at avoiding such road hazards at a constant speed of sixty miles per hour as they were trying to make up for lost time, much to the displeasure of the gunners.

"Next time we do this mission; ignore what I said about getting to Seattle by eight in the morning. I would rather be late then experience that god damned roller coaster ride again." sputtered Richard, after he heaved his dinner out the window.

"I'm sorry, sir. I'll try to keep that suggestion in mind," The mercenary replied while trying to hide a smug smile.

* * *

Ten minutes later after the road became more drivable; Al had reported yet another radio transmission directed to both him and Altron in the Citizen Band frequency. He triangulated its location to be about twenty five miles to the northwest of our current position.

"Patch it through, Al." Sousuke replied tiredly. His gut feeling told him that caller may be from Green Circle or its various satellite groups.

"Hello, mercenaries of Mithril. We're very unhappy that your fellow mercenaries and even a SWAT team had attacked our base of operations in Boise and now, you're making the effort to further ruin our plans of blowing up the Seattle algae plant. " The distorted voice said in the rear speakers. "Still, we can still be reasonable about all this. If you would just kindly surrender your very important passenger to us, we can make sure that the rest of you will arrive at Seattle… alive and in one piece."

"We are **not **leaving Dr. Mardukas with you. We at Mithril pride ourselves in successfully completing our missions thus your plan to intimidate us is a complete and utter failure," Sousuke answered quickly, his voice firm as he spoke on the microphone.

"More than that, we know what is at stake in this particular mission so you can take your veiled threat and shove it where the sun doesn't shine." Shinji added in the airwaves, his voice was a little shaky, yet there was a hint of anger in his undertone.

"I see. Well then, I **will** see you in the near future then so we can finally know who would fulfill their mission objectives in the end." The voice said before signing off.

There was brief moment of silence before Shinji again spoke up, this time using the laser induction system.

"I know I was a bit out of character back there but I was just so mad at that asshole. I mean, he will still kill Dr. Mardukas as well as blow up the algae plant along with a good chunk of Seattle if we just agreed to his demands."

"I understand, Shinji. Just prepare yourselves for more attacks from Green Circle; I believe that they will throw everything at us from here on. Also, it was smart of that man to use a voice scrambler as we would have recorded the message for future tracing, anyway."

"We will and I agree with you on that last part. For now, let us get to a truck stop first. Altron is slowly losing juice and I imagine the same can be said for your Arbalest."

"That is because we're now using the new laser system for two-way communication. Even if it uses little energy, it can still drain a significant amount of power from the power plant itself." said the scientist as he borrowed the microphone from his driver. "This is made even more evident since we're pushing the power plants of the cars to their operational limits by traveling for nearly two hundred miles with both radar and the other sensor devices turned on the whole time."

By the time they finished talking, they had just seen the freeway exit for the fortress city of Kennewick. Shinji had asked if they could top off their power plants in the truck stop there.

Sousuke disagreed and then suggested that Altron use its back up power cells instead until they arrive at the city of Ellensburg itself. This was so they could save thirty minutes of the needed travel time.

After they passed by Exit 113, they saw an orange glow just past the next rise, Sousuke told his friends to power up the Altron's arsenal while telling the same to Al.

As the convoy reached the crest of the hill, they saw a wrecked and burning van just 150 yards down the road.

The wreck itself was straddling the double yellow lane markings in the road's middle. As they got closer to the wreck, no signs of life or any activity were seen.

As they slowly passed it by, Kyoko reported it to the Kennewick police. The wrecked van is a light green General Motors Company Savanna Passenger Van LS G1500 with two charred bodies inside.

She let out a surprised gasp as she also saw a spray painted green circle around the burning vehicle. As soon as she told everyone about the green circle, the convoy immediately took off as far away from the wreck as they can.

* * *

The next half-hour could only be summed up in one word – quiet. As far as the occupants of both cars in the convoy are concerned, it was better this way as it had given them the chance to calm their frazzled nerves after all the previous excitement.

From the road signs they had passed by, they were now approaching the fortress city of Yakima. Again, Shinji had asked if they could top off to save time later. And again, Sousuke refused since he believed they could still reach Ellensburg within the given time period.

Just after they passed by Selah's city limits, a pair of flashing lights and a shrill siren had caught their attention. A pair of Yakima police cruisers was following them from a distance, their sirens blaring.

The two vehicles pulled up to the side of the road, and their drivers dismounted while waiting for the cruisers to catch up to them.

"A pleasant good evening, sirs and… madam. Routine inspection, y' see." The red-haired cop had told them as he inspected the cars for contraband and such.

"Hey, Frank. I think these guys are the ones who saved Old Man Waybridge in Pendleton a few hours ago," His younger partner said as he too left the safety of his patrol car.

"Well I think you're jokin', Harry. How can you even prove that they actually saved him?" scoffed Frank, he was simply mind-boggled at the naivety of his rookie partner.

"Actually, we did save him. This coral necklace was given to me by Mrs. Hime Isami for helping the townspeople put out the fire," Kyoko replied as she exited the car and showed her new necklace that she had worn to the stumped officers.

'Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle. The color choice and design does fit Mrs. Isami's handiwork. My wife even has a similar bauble back home," Frank said as he scratched his head when he realized his mistake. "Well then, you guys can leave. Sorry for the trouble we caused."

"That's alright. I'm just glad that it's over," Shinji replied as he opened the driver side door of the Altron and went in. Kyoko and Sousuke followed his example before the convoy continued their journey.

* * *

Thirty minutes after the brief encounter with the Yakima police, both vehicles were coming down the mountains of Kititas County. Just two miles away lies the junction of I-82 and I-90 and beyond that the fortress city of Ellensburg.

Suddenly, their radar picked up four objects approaching them fast from their rear. Moments later, Shinji had seen four headlight beams pierce the darkness behind them.

He told Sousuke about the pursuing motorcycles, based on the number as well as the distance of the headlights from each other, as seen from his rear view and side view mirrors and the number of blips. He also swerved to the right, to avoid being hit by the lead car's smokescreen.

While her betrothed was warning their friend about the incoming cyclists, Kyoko was already activating the Altron's weapons and targeting computers. Al was doing the same in the Arbalest as soon as his driver had given the spoken command.

Again, the pop up turrets were raised in tandem with the armored panels for the smokescreens. In a span of three seconds after Shinji saw the headlight beams; both cars have now bared their fearsome fangs.

The lead cyclist hand signaled his cohorts to surround the two-car convoy before he tried to shoot the Altron's rear tires. Two of the cycles behind him accelerated quickly to flank the Altron and Arbalest as the cyclists broke ranks.

Kyoko centered the right one on her cross hairs and fired a single beam at the cycle's front tire, puncturing it.

When its front wheel's tire was blown off, the cyclist lost control of his ride. He wisely chose to jump off his skidding bike, rather than try to regain control. The bike itself slid on the concrete pavement, yellow sparks trailing behind it.

The biker rolled along just behind his skidding machine, groaning in pain when he stopped. His friends nearly ran him over as they tried to get out of the activated smokescreens' blinding white cloud.

His partner in crime, who was trying to outflank the Arbalest on its left side, only got a few rounds off his bike's machine gun before his own bike's front wheel was blown off as well.

He never saw the telltale flash before he was thrown off roughly by the bike's uncontrollable movements. The only thing that he later remembered was the loud sound of a buzzing insect just before he was roughly thrown out.

The last two bikers were furious that the two cars were still not disabled so they poured everything they had on the both cars' side and rear armor.

Even so, their collective aim was so messed up by the white cloud surrounding them that more than half of their shots missed their intended targets anyway while the those that did hit only chipped some part of the cars' rear armor.

They were still hoping that a round or two may pass through a chink in the cars' armor and either hit the driver or gunner or even disable the cars' power plant themselves.

They were so intent on pounding the two cars with machine gun fire as well as trying to escape the smokescreen that they never noticed that their targets' turrets were now aimed at them until it was too late.

Both cycles crashed at the same time, their riders having the presence of mind to jump off quickly before their cycles hit the road with a loud screech.

Satisfied that the cyclists were thoroughly beaten, the two cars stopped at the road side. The mercenaries had left the safety of their vehicles to check up on them, while the scientist radioed the Ellensburg police.

The scientist did not even had to wait long before the road ahead came alive with two heavily armed and armored police cruisers, their sirens blaring and their flashing lights piercing the darkness.

The gunner of the lead car got out and approached the apprehended bikers with a confident gait. He was a big man with a belly to match. Yet, in the glare of the flashing red and blue police lights, he still made a very intimidating figure.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Robert and his little friends. It would seem that y'all have ta give me a pretty good story on why you attacked these brave travelers," The broad shouldered man said as he stopped in front of the red haired lanky biker.

The biker himself tried to look surprised as he spoke, his left hand nervously clutching his busted helmet.

"Um, fancy meetin' you here, Uncle Barry. Of all the places we had ta meet, it had to be here in the interstate on the outskirts of town."

"Don't you Uncle Barry me, boy. I know 'bout yer secret dealings with Green Circle. Didn't your parents and I tell you that they're bad news, and yet you and your pea-brained pals still went and made a deal with them!?" The burly man sighed as he shook his head ruefully. "This calls fer extreme measures and I mean extreme."

'How extreme would it be, Chief Harrison?" asked another biker, his gelled hair dyed in a mint green shade.

"It's just that I had one of my deputies radio the dispatcher so Kelly can call your parents. They're probably on their way to the station now too," Chief Harrison answered as he took a quick peek at his new Seiko wristwatch.

The four teen-aged bikers' faces turned ghostly white as they imagined the tongue lashing they would get upon their arrival at the police station. The Ellensburg police chief himself made a herculean effort to hold his laughter at what he would say next.

"It gets better, boys. I had my little sister bring a large batch of her 'special dish' jus' for ya. I do hope you're all hungry. I know I am," Harrison told them while still trying to keep a straight face.

To the traveler's confusion and the police officers' amusement, the bikers all looked as if they were ready to barf then and there.

"You call that 'special', I've tasted better cooking in my sister's cooking class in their first week alone." One biker gagged as he looked like he going to puke any second now.

"Bwah. That stuff is poison. I purposely left it for the pesky rats at home to take a bite off it and they died the next day," Another biker added after he did empty his dinner on the cold asphalt.

"Hey, dumb asses. Nobody and I mean nobody makes fun of Gladys' cooking except for Joseph and me. Ya got that, dip shits?" The brown haired chief of police glared at the two green faced bikers who had made fun of his sister's cooking skills.

"That's because you and Dad are the only ones in town that can even eat that icky stuff let alone have second portions of it," Robert said as a way of explanation to the still confused travelers as he and his friends were escorted to the waiting cruisers.

His green face could not hide the grimace at the thought of even seeing the said meal let alone eating it.

"Alright then, since ya love it so much, you could 'ave my share. Gladys will be so proud of you, my boy." The police chief retorted followed by a loud guffaw.

Turning his attention to the still shocked travelers, he added. "Actually, Bobby's a really good kid. It's jus' unfortunate that he had such bad tastes in friends."

A chorus of "Hey, I resent that remark!" and "Screw you, Uncle!" immediately followed the spoken comments.

"Shut yer filthy traps or I'll ask Gladys to serve yer lunches too!" The police chief bellowed at the now cowering teens to the amusement of everyone else within hearing range .

Now turning to the amused mercenaries and scientist, he added. "Alright, you guys are free ta go. Sorry for the trouble these stupid kids had caused."

"Thank you very much, Chief Harrison. We'll be taking our leave now," Richard replied for all the travelers.

As soon as they entered their cars, Kyoko had remarked on the radio that it has to be cruel and unusual punishment for the teen aged bikers to eat something that made their stomachs churn while listening to the parent's reprimands until daybreak.

"Yes, it is certainly cruel and unusual but it may be the best way to reform the chief's nephew and his friends." Sousuke answered as he put the Arbalest in gear.

The convoy then headed on to Ellensburg for some repairs on the Altron and a needed recharge for both vehicles. The city's street lights were now visible on the near horizon.

* * *

The chapter ending itself is a bit lame but at least it is somewhat funny. The last chapter is going to have its own fill of action scenes as the team encounters more bad guys on their way to Seattle.

More than that, they have to flush out the Green Circle operatives hiding in the algae plant. Luckily for them, they have some help from an unexpected source.

* * *

Preview for Chapter 4:

On the first count, the mercenaries and agents were walking briskly while crouching towards the opened doorway. They also used whatever structure or wrecked vehicles they can find to cover their movements from look outs.

By the time Luke and his second in command, had counted two, both teams were already leaning on the walls on both sides of the opened door, readying their flash bangs and/or smoke grenades. The scientist himself clutched his briefcase, with the special defusing kit inside, tightly with both hands.

On the third count, everyone except Dr. Mardukas had thrown a smoke grenade or flash bang inside the building's interior and ducked from the back blast.

The grenades detonated inside the building with audible booms, with some white smoke and flashes of light coming out of the doorway itself. On Luke's command, everyone went inside two by two with him and and his second in command taking the point.

* * *

The animé I was talking about earlier is Brainpowerd and three of its characters are present here namely: Yuu Isami, Hime Isami nee Utsumiya , and Winston Waybrdige. Ryu Isami is my little other character.

I'll see you next week as I wrap this story up with a bang. For now, just read and enjoy.


	2. Guns of Navarrone

Welcome to the second chapter of Green Circle Blues.

Let me start off this author's note by explaining the chapter title.

The "Guns of Navarone" is a novel (that was later made into a motion picture) about a small Allied commando team that had destroyed a seemingly impregnable German fortress on the fictional Greek island of Navarone that threatened Allied Naval forces in the Aegean Sea back in the Second World War.

Its two massive cannons (about twenty inches in diameter, I think ) were powerful enough to sink a World War II era battleship in two or three salvos.

Just to show how big the barrels really are, they are twice as big as those used by the M1 Abrams tank.

In this story, a well emplaced gun is used to threaten well-meaning travelers using the Interstate 84 on their way to Washington or western Oregon from Idaho.

A bit of a stretch between the two above subjects, but it is the best that I can get right now.

Also Arbalest's artificial intelligence or "Al" will be having some dialog here as well since both the mission and journey itself is pretty much underway.

As I promised, the action part of the whole story will start here.

Legend: **"words" -** Al's speech, songs and the artist who sung them and the chapter quote. "words" - spoken dialog 'words' - thoughts

With all that said, read and enjoy.

* * *

**"This is bad, man. I've got bad vibes here." **- Doc Gomez, Platoon

Chapter 2 – **The Guns of Navarone**

As the gray Aston Martin Vanquish was passing through Interstate 84 on its way to Idaho's state boundary with Oregon, Sousuke had inserted the compact disk he got earlier from the AADA Center into the CD driver of the car at the dashboard's middle column.

This did not escape the notice of his elder passenger sitting on the shotgun or gunner seat.

"Sousuke, where did you get that CD? Also what is the information stored there? Nothing strange, I hope." Richard said as he had leaned into the middle of the dashboard as far as he could with the safety harness in place. He had also balanced the battered briefcase on his armored lap.

"U-Uh, negative sir. I-It is a digital copy of the route that we will be taking to Seattle," Sousuke had stuttered a bit as his train of thoughts was broken somehow. "Al, please upload the information to your digital map for future access. It was given to me by the staff of the AADA center in Boise."

**"Affirmative, Sousuke. Now analyzing data for inclusion to previous digital map information,"** answered Al, the Arbalest's AI.

"That's good. It is best to be well prepared for important missions like this." The scientist had nodded in approval at answer given.

**"Encoded radio transmission from Boise, Sousuke."** Al interrupted.

"Prepare decryption of incoming transmission for two way communication, Al." Sousuke commanded as he had lifted the microphone off its holder.

**"The task is already done, Sousuke. Line is now secure."**

"Sousuke, are you guys out the city limits yet?" asked a familiar voice on the car's rear speakers.

"Affirmative, Melissa. We are now traveling on Interstate 84 in between Nampa and Caldwell." The mercenary answered as he had let a metallic green Mitsubishi Eclipse with a recoil-less rifle protruding from its hood pass him by.

"Well then, I'll give the signal for the assault then." Melissa replied, her tone indicating her relief at the answer given. "Thanks."

"What assault, Melissa?" The young man had mentally cursed himself for being so out of the loop in this particular mission but was unable to ask the older woman since the signal was cut off from her end.

The mercenarry had made a mental note not to repeat the same mistake in future mission planning.

**"Sousuke, she meant that Lieutenant Clouseau and Sergeant Major Weber will help the Boston Police Force attack the Boise headquarters of Green Circle in South East Boise. **answered the car's AI.

**"The State department has already been in constant contact with Mithril to lead counter strike efforts against the environmental terrorist group. This is why we were assigned to escort Dr. Mardukas to the Seattle algae plant. He is the seaside city's only hope in diffusing the mini-nuclear bomb wired deep within the bowels of the algae plant by elements of the said group." **The Ai had added after a beat. **  
**

"Al is correct, Sousuke. It is also because I am the only one who can successfully disable the detonator as a sort of precaution against would be industrial thieves," said the old scientist sagely. "Green Circle knows this fact as well and will surely try to prevent me from foiling their plans to destroy the algae plant and Seattle itself in the process."

"I understand. No wonder, all sensors were set to active search and the weapons on ready status before I even arrived." Sousuke said as he had rubbed his chin thoughtfully with his free hand.

**"Another transmission from Boise, this time it is from Lieutenant Clouseau. The transmission itself is also encoded. Its probable source location is somewhere in South Boise."**

"Patch it through, Al." Sousuke replied softly.

"Sousuke, I heard from Melissa that you guys are nearing the state line. Good luck on your journey and may Allah be with you.

The Mithril lieutenant said with a short laugh at what he would say next. "We'll be keeping Green Circle busy in the meantime. Nothing stirs a hornet's nest more than direct assault, I always say."

"Thank you, sir and good hunting on your part as well."

Both mercenaries had closed the transmission with Sousuke making a few glances at the radar screen and side view mirrors every once in a while, his alert mind wary for any surprise attack.

* * *

The whole hour was rather uneventful and even quiet for the two occupants of the Vanquish. The Vanquish had just crossed the bridge over Snake River as it had entered the small town of Ontario in the state of Oregon.

The car's Bose radio was currently playing some **Frank Sinatra **classics like **"The Lady is a Tramp" **and** "I've Got You Under My Skin"**. Both songs were part of the three song play list of the favorite radio station of the scientist.

Sousuke had mixed feelings at hearing the songs being played since they had both reminded him of a certain blue-haired girl he left in Denver, Colorado. But he had pushed those feelings away since he had a dangerous mission to finish first.

The first song's ending lyrics did echo his own feelings through since Kaname would always be a champ in his eyes.

Eight miles out from Ontario, the car's radar had detected two blips coming in at high speed from their six o'clock. The mercenary had taken a quick peek at the side view mirrors and saw two BMW G 650 Xcountry motorcycles getting closer to them.

Both motorcycles were painted black with green trim. Their riders had worn improved body armor in the same shade as their bikes.

"Al, arm the smokescreen and Gauss cannon. It would seem that the diversion is not fully successful," Sousuke told the AI as he had turned on the hi-resolution targeting computer.

**"As you wish, Sousuke. Both weapons are now armed and ready** **for action."**

The pop up turret had risen in tandem with the car's rear panel, the latter where the license plate is installed. In two seconds flat, both the Gauss gun and smokescreen were rendered visible to the outside world.

The cyclists, seeing that their target had bared its teeth, had taken the opportunity to fire the first shots of the road battle.

The gray car had weaved a bit to try to minimize damage to its rear and side armors, but the cycles were nimble enough to duplicate the former's zigzag maneuvers.

Thus, the car's rear armor was slowly chipped away by round after round of accurate machine gun fire. Some machine gun rounds had even made a few small cracks at the car's rear windshield.

The smokescreen was also damaged before it was able to produce the needed volume of the gaseous white cloud.

It had taken a whole minute before white smoke finally exited from the rear opening of the Arbalest. Unfortunately, the delay was enough for the two cyclists to critically damage the smokescreen thus limiting the amount of smoke it could spew.

The white smoke had temporarily blinded the bikers as they were downwind of the chasing car. The cyclists had tried to keep themselves from losing control of their machines as they weaved this way and that to get out of the thinning smoke's range but were only moderately successful at best.

The last thing that the Green Circle goons had ever heard were the buzzing sounds similar to those made by bees only much louder just before they felt something pierce their armored bodies.

Their cycles had also disintegrated in spectacular explosions as they were punctured with streamlined steel needles moving at seven times the speed of sound.

**"Targets eliminated, Sousuke. I am now retrieving weaponry for later use,"** Al reported as the turret had folded down and the rear closed up. After the task was completed, only the machine gun barrels in the car's front were visible from the outside.

"I hope that is the last of them. If not, we may not even succeed in this mission." Sousuke remarked as he had taken a peak at the weapon displays that showed the statuses of the used Gauss gun and smokescreen.

"Do not say such things, Sousuke. We have to succeed. The fate of Seattle and the thousands of people living there is in our hands," Richard said as he had found himself in an unfamiliar role of being the cheerleader. It was a role that his adopted daughter does very well.

Both men went silent and just enjoyed the sight of the setting sun as it had lowered itself slowly behind the tree-lined Blue Mountains. Before long, the Arbalest had reached the Baker City exit but the car simply bypassed it.

Sousuke had made a brief glance at the charge indicator before looking back at the now slowly darkening scenery beyond the reach of the Vanquish's headlight beams.

* * *

The car's various sensors still did not register any threat as it had entered the zigzag portion of the I-84. Both occupants of the Vanquish were not even sure if this had meant that Green Circle either had given up on chasing them or was just waiting for them at another ambush point in their route ahead.

"It's quiet, maybe a bit too quiet." remarked the scientist as he had rubbed his chin in thought.

"I agree with you, Sir. There may be trouble up ahead."

Before Sousuke could explain his theory further to the surprised scientist, Al's voice had once again intervened. **"Sousuke, we have another transmission. This time, it is from an unknown source and it is also broadcasted on the Citizen Band frequencies."**

"Can you trace it back, Al?" Sousuke's hairs on his neck rose slightly. He did not know what to respond should the incoming transmission would be from Green Circle or its satellite groups.

**"Negative, Sousuke. The mountains are giving so much interference that it makes the signal hard to trace back to its source."** The AI replied.

"Patch it through, then."

Both men had steeled themselves for what would happen next.

"Hello, hello. You guys must 'ave a newfangled device in there ta keep us on hold fer this long. Not that it'll actually help ya in this case." An unfamiliar and raspy male voice was heard from the car's speakers.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Sousuke told the speaker as soon as he had gotten hold of the mike. He was not in the mood for mind games and would like the man to get straight to the point.

"Touchy, touchy. Who I am is not important. What we want is fer you ta pay us one thousand dollars in cold hard cash, plain and simple." The voice had replied with a tinge of impatience in his tone.

The mercenary and scientist had looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.

'Just the usual road bandit,' they thought in tandem.

"Alright, how can we pay you then?" Sousuke said as he had visibly relaxed when he remembered the AADA report about higher than average ambushes in this part of the I-40. He had mentally thanked himself for going to the AADA office earlier that afternoon.

"Around the next curve, there's an old roadside rest stop. Stop there and drop the moolah inta the old gray trash can at the left side of entrance. No funny stuff like shooting it or ignoring it altogether as I can see if ya leave the money or not."The voice said with a hint of anger in his voice.

"I suggest that you follow these simple instructions… if ya like ta live long enough to see the next off-ramp, that is."

As soon as the line was disconnected, the scientist had suggested that they pay the bandit.

"It's only one thousand dollars. That is just a small price to pay for the lives of five hundred thousand people," Richard added, hoping that Sousuke would listen to his sound advice.

"No can do, sir. I have a plan," answered the auto duelist as he had turned right at the next curve.

"I hope that this one is better than the last time you told me that." the scientist replied as he had let out a worried sigh.

* * *

The roadside stop was just right as the highway embezzler had told the mercenary. The whole place had looked like it was a popular stop for highway travelers more than ten years ago. Now it is just an empty building with little to no signs of life inside.

Even the few plastic furnishings that was seen from the outside were old and ready for a trip to the recycling plant.

Dust had coated everything from floors to bars and silky cobwebs served as the building's only decoration. The said silky apartments had attached themselves either in the building's inner corners or anywhere that they can be spun by their arachnid tenants.

The room itself was slowly darkening as the sun continued its downward path towards the distant horizon.

After entering the shack, Sousuke had taken out 1,000 dollars worth of one hundred dollar bills out his wallet and studied the billfold for a bit. He then returned the money in his wallet and pulled out a similar pile of smaller denomination bills, mostly either one dollar or five dollar bills.

He then bundled them together and tied them with a blue rubber band that he had drawn earlier from the Arbalest's glove compartment. After tying them securely, he had dropped the bundled money into the rusting trash can and returned to the car.

As Sousuke was buckling up his seat belt, he told Al to prepare the electronic conceal system for immediate use as soon as they had passed the next curve.

* * *

About three miles down the road, the Arbalest had entered the stretch of the interstate where the right shoulder was solid rock and the left was sheer cliff. As the road had curved off to the left, Al reported that he had detected an emplaced weapon in the rock wall, about five hundred meters ahead of them.

Both men had looked at the said rock wall to see a 40mm anti-tank gun, strategically placed to cover the entire curve of the highway.

The gun was well-protected by a natural rock bunker so any chance to knock it out by means of the Gauss gun is next to none.

In light of this fact, Sousuke then asked Al on what were the chances of escape if the ECS was used to cover their escape as he and the scientist had pulled down the sun visors down to blot out the glare from the setting sun.

**"The probability would be a fifty five percent chance of escaping successfully with the ECS used alone. This is even with their sight being affected by the setting sun's rays shining directly in their faces."**

"That is good enough. Activate ECS on my mark."

The Arbalest had just come out of another curve when Al had reported a nearly untranslatable radio message coming from the mountaintop to the left. In a rare show of humor, the AI had also reported the only translatable part – **"Blast 'em." **

A moment later, a loud boom was heard followed by the unmistakable sound of concrete being blown to pieces just behind them.

"I told you to just pay, Sousuke. Now do something about this," The scientist said, his panicked tone betraying his anger at the driver.

"Now, Al." The mercenary ordered as he had pressed the accelerator pedal further down towards the floorboards. He had ignored the panicking gunner and concentrated on keeping the weaving car on the road.

Just as the mercenary had put the petal to the metal, the car had swerved a bit to the left and scraped its front fender with the steel guard rail. Some gray paint was scraped off in the process.

The next two shots went wild as the gun's two man crew had tried to locate the escaping car, through ranging shots only, given the widening distance and their hampered sight.

The two gunners were totally at a loss as to where to place their next two shots as they had difficulty seeing their target through the blinding glare of the descending sun.

Adding to their woes was that their targeting computers and its accompanying sensors were totally useless on honing in at the escaping car.

Their spotter, who was in the adjacent mountain, had given them the correct coordinates for the remaining two salvos but they were still seconds too late to make a crippling hit.

Still, one salvo was close enough to spray some flying pieces of asphalt to the Arbalest's front grille and even hit the power plant components behind it.

Another salvo was only a foot away from hitting the Arbalest's rear bumper.

By the time the sun had lowered itself enough so that the gunners could see the valley clearly, the Arbalest was already out of the gun's effective range. It just continued on its way to La Grande, just thirty minutes away downhill.

* * *

As the gray Aston Martin had neared in La Grande westbound exit 261, Sousuke asked for permission to recharge the Arabalest's power plant as it was dangerously running low of the needed electrical power. The scientist had agreed and even suggested that they eat a light dinner there as well.

They had found the Le Grande Truck Stop at the corner of Island Ave and 26th Street. The truck stop part in the sign is actually a misnomer.

This is because its building design actually has more in common with a recharge station and diner than a full-fledged truck stop but neither the mercenary nor the scientist had complained about it.

The three charging generators are placed in front right under a steel canopy with La Grande Truck Stop in red neon letters on two of its sides.

A large lighted rectangular aluminum sign also with the establishment's name, supported by a concrete tube- thirty inches in diameter, was placed a few meters beyond the said generators.

At the back of the generators, lie the diner and the repair bay. The latter structure was only big enough to accommodate two luxury type duel cars, parked side by side.

As the Arbalest had drove in, its occupants had noticed that the repair bay was currently occupied with two more duel cars parked just outside. With a pained sigh, Sousuke had parked the car in the unoccupied generator nearest to the ramp where the Arbalest then entered.

Both he and the scientist then headed over to the diner to order a quick dinner while the Arbalest's power plant was being charged.

The young owner of the whole establishment, a certain Issei Tsubaki, had chatted with them as he usually does with new faces in town.

"So where are you guys headin'?" he said as he had sat down in the seat next to the mercenary after wiping some dew off his glasses with his left thumb.

"Seattle, Washington. We have…some business there," answered Sousuke as he had eaten his cheeseburger with relish. He was about to drink his cherry flavored Dr. Pepper soda when Issei had asked again, this time to the scientist.

"So what's with the beat up brown briefcase on your lap, Grandpa? I can assure you that this place is safe and sound for elderly people like you."

The scientist had bristled a bit at being called an old man in such a disparaging manner.

"For your information, young man, I am only in my late forties and I would rather be called Sir or something with a little more respect."

"Sorry, sir. I guess I was a bit too relaxed with you. I meant no disrespect when I called you Grandpa though," The young owner said with both sincerity and trite as he had made his apology.

"It was that you were just so tight that I had to loosen ya up a little. My ol' Grandpa would surely be wailing at you for being such an old stick in the mud. He may be old but age did not bother him one bit, no sir."

While the elder scientist was reflecting on the comment and also quietly ate his salad, Sousuke had asked if he could buy some ammunition for his car. The young owner then stood up and escorted him to the ammunition counter at the opposite side to the diner's counter.

The spinning ceiling fans had mussed up their black hair a bit as the young men passed by underneath them.

"I can only sell you one box of Gauss ammo since we're pretty much under stocked at the moment. Ever since the AADA had put up that advisory about Baker's Dozen Truck Stop, we got a lot more customers than we can handle but we're still doing the best we can under the circumstances." Issei said as he had just placed the box of Gauss ammo on the wooden counter before continuing.

"As for the smokescreen charges, you'll have to buy 'em in Pendleton. Ol' Man Winston in the Pendleton truck stop is no Uncle Albert but his grandson's weapon shop is the best stocked in the entire route for this whole week or so I heard."

After Sousuke had thanked the chatty owner and even gave him an extra fifty dollars for the tips, Issei had one last thing to say.

"Be careful out there, there were four big bruisers who were looking for a gray Aston Martin Vanquish with two machine guns up front and a pop up turret on top." Issei said as he tried to remember something. "They also added that it was ridden by a black-haired hotshot driver with a scar on his lower left cheek and an old man with a briefcase. I believe they took off towards Pendleton on three green BMW G 650 Xmoto motorcycles; one of the cycles is even fitted with a fleximum sidecar."

"Anything else?" Sousuke was beginning to imagine who the bruisers really were.

The young owner had added with a snap of his fingers. "Oh yeah, they're all painted black with green trim."

"Thank you for all the information. " Sousuke was already on his way out the door. "We will surely be on our guard, Mr. Tsubaki."

The scientist had already left earlier and was already sitting in the shotgun or gunner seat of the Arbalest.

"Hey, call me Issei. Mr. Tsubaki makes me feel old," Issei said as he tried to correct the mercenary but the latter had already exited the restaurant. "Damn that guy."

The Arbalest had exited to the I-40 via the same exit toll way and continued its way west then northwest towards Pendleton.

While Sousuke had kept his eyes on both the map displayed in the heads up display before them and the radar screen, Richard watched the shadowy silhouettes of the local fauna.

* * *

After the car had exited La Grande, the elderly scientist could only see some farmlands with some juniper trees interspersed at both sides of the road. Going further up and westward, pine trees and fir trees has replaced the junipers. Wild grasses have also shared the rocky ground where the trees grew roots.

This went on for about thirty minutes before the Arbalest's radar had once again detected three distinct blips, all three of them coming towards them from behind at high speed.

A quick peek at the rear mirror had showed that the cyclists were members of Green Circle as the mercenary had been warned earlier by Issei.

The black and green motorcycle with a side car had taken the lead and was trying to overtake the Arbalest from the left. The other two were shooting at the gray car's rear armor as if they were keeping it busy from shooting at the overtaking bike with a sidecar.

Sousuke had activated the Gauss gun while the Arbalest's A.I. had engaged the automatic target detection system and set it on full defense.

As the explosive bullets were chipping the rear and side laser proof plastic armors with audible pings, only the Gauss gun had again rose to the occasion.

The Vanquish's hind lights had also fallen victim to the numerous bullets hitting the car at nearly the same time. Pieces of fiber glass from their red and orange lenses had littered the road where the car had passed.

The turret weapon had centered its sights on the side car passenger who was about to jump towards the car's roof. A single shot had holed him squarely at his abdomen before he fell on the asphalt with a loud thump.

This situation had angered the bike's driver as he too had added his own firepower on the hapless gray car's rear, chipping even more plastic armor with embedded ceramic chips.

The continuous stream of bullets was so bad, the car's rear spoiler was damaged enough to separate from the car itself after it was blown away by a rouge draft.

The loss of the rear spoiler had caused the car to wobble slightly at the high speed it was traveling, forcing Sousuke to slow down enough to regain some control.

While his friends were still trading shots with the gray car, the rider of the motorcycle with side car had made his ride overtake all of them since he wanted to see the frightened eyes of the Arbalest's passengers as they die by his hand.

He was further motivated by the sound of a fellow member's cry of pain as one of the chasing cycles' medium power plants was holed through and through. The holed power plant had triggered an explosion that destroyed the cycle and killed its rider instantly.

When the said motorcycle was far enough from the car, it had turned around and charged at the latter straight on.

The big rider's eyes were filled with hatred and his mind is set on one thought only - turn the Arbalest into a million pieces of scrap metal. He had even armed his cycle's self-destruct button if his vehicle's machine gun's high density bullets failed in their task.

The two vehicles had fought it out with a ferocious exchange of machine gun fire as the gauss had taken yet another cycle permanently out of action. The scientist had to cover his eyes at the sight of the Green Circle operative and his bike being riddled with high density .50 caliber machine gun rounds.

The car itself was severely damaged from the car's grille up to the hood. Some bullets had even holed the front windshield. Luckily, the gray car's occupants were spared from the deadly slugs that had passed thorough the holed windshield.

Not relying on luck, the pair had instinctively ducked as soon as they saw the machine gun flashes. Al even took temporary control of the wheel while the ATAD had continued the barrage of .50 caliber bullets while the mercenary was keeping his head down.

A few seconds later, the Green Circle operative had said his last hurrah's as he too met his fiery end in the motorcycle's triggered explosion just as the Arbalest had swerved out of its way at the last second before stopping at the road curb for a few minutes.

As soon as he got out of forced huddle, Sousuke simply continued on his way for nearby Pendleton. The fortress city itself was only downhill from where they were now.

* * *

About fifteen minutes after the latest attack by Green Circle, Al had once again warned them of an incoming vehicle coming fast behind them at a flat eighty miles per hour.

The black cycle had appeared briefly beside them before revving up and taking the lead.

"Sousuke, let us follow him. He's probably yet another member of Green Circle." said Richard, eager to prove his claims that Green Circle does not always use the trademark color on their vehicles.

"Sir, with all due respect, he hasn't fired on us so chasing him is pointless." answered the mercenary pointedly.

"That maybe true but if he does anything funny, follow him. He may lead us to the rest of those environmentalist malcontents."

The Arbalest had trailed the bike at a two car distance, but the cycle suddenly made smoke before disappearing in the darkness ahead.

"Damn it, we lost him. If he is involved with Green Circle, you take the blame for letting him go." Richard fumed as he had crossed his arms across his thin chest.

"Yes sir. Although your theory may have its merits, this may not be true in this case." Sousuke explained as he had noticed that difference in this situation to the others before it. "I mean, if he were to lead us to a trap; he should not have shaken us off like he did. Also, we only have enough machine gun ammunition for two short bursts and nothing more."

**"Not only that but my plastic armor's integrity is down to only thirty five percent, Dr. Mardukas. If we fight another road battle, our chances of survival are down to twenty percent if not lower." **The car's AI added as his self-preservation programming had kicked in.

"You both have good points there, Sousuke and Al. Alright, let us just continue this mission." The scientist agreed after giving the explanations much thought.

"Thank you, sir but we still have to make a stop in Pendleton truck stop for repairs, re-arming of the weapons, and a top up recharge."

"Just make it quick. We are about halfway there according to the digital map in the screen, and it's already nine in the evening."

Yet another ten minutes had passed by before the occupants of the Arbalest actually saw the welcoming lights of Pendleton City twinkling in the distance.

* * *

Alright, chapter two is done, and only two more chapters left to go. Again, I apologize for any dialog that would be offensive to some readers. If there are such dialogs, feel free to tell me in a private message and I will fix it then and there.

Also, I don't Dr. Pepper.

The battle scene here is short and brutal for a good reason. The reason being is that real gun battles are just as short and are even more brutal than what I can actually imagine.

So if I get any more descriptive in the battle scenes, I may as well post this story maybe even the rest of the Anime Car War series in Adult Fanfiction Net.

* * *

Preview for Chapter 3:

When the group had arrived at the shack, its back and roof was already engulfed in flames. The only reason it did not fully engulf the wooden shack is that the neighborhood was already fighting it bucket-brigade style. A few locals had even pulled a water wagon from the back of a nearby house. Still it was slow going since the wagon's four wheels had gotten rusty from disuse so it was hard to move even if five people were pushing it from behind.

* * *

Again just read and enjoy, that is all I ask.


	3. A Hero's work is never done

Alright, everyone. Chapter three is now up and running. This is the chapter where Sousuke gets the needed back up for his escort mission to Seattle.

You would certainly be surprised to see who I put as his back up though. I have also included three cameos from an obscure mecha animè plus one OC or other character.

Thankfully, this chapter has no gory fight scenes like those mentioned in the previous chapter so this one is more child-friendly, I hope.

Oh well, just read and enjoy.

Legend: _**words in bold ital****ic**_ - billboard advertisement " words" - spoken dialog 'words' - thoughts or spoken words in quotation **words in bold** - quote of the chapter

* * *

**"The things I'm gonna do for my country."** - Xander Cage, XXX

Chapter 3 – **A Hero's Work is Never Done**

In a span of ten minutes, the Arbalest had reached the freeway exit for fortress city of Pendleton. The gray car had turned right at Exit 213 before heading towards the town proper where the truck stop is located.

The billboards had pointed to its location at the junction of Route 30 and Road 900. One of the billboards actually read as follows:

* * *

_**Most Complete Ammo Stocks in Eastern Oregon**_

_**24-Hour Repairs**_

_**10,000 Real Burgers Sold**_

* * *

The truck stop itself is huge, covering about a hectare of land at best. It is composed of two large buildings and a steel canopy covering the open space where the charging generators are located. It is also bounded by ten feet high concrete fences on all four sides.

On each of the fence's four corners is a turret, the said structures were placed there in case of a gang attack. The building's brown roofs are tiled and also tilted at a 45 degree angle to accommodate rain and snow runoffs.

The larger of the two buildings has housed the restaurant and convenience center while the other building has housed the four car garage, its small office, and an ammunition and weapons store. All of these are found on the ground floor.

Tinted and bullet proof windows at said building's second floor indicated that it is also used for office spaces.

Another large sign (about thirty feet up) is placed at the farthest edge to the left of the entrance. On it were the words, Pendleton Truck Stop. As with those from La Grande, an eight inch diameter steel pole had supported the said sign's weight.

The Vanquish had parked first in front of the just vacated space in front of a charging generator. Sousuke had disembarked first as he went to the garage to ask for a mechanic.

It was just his luck that a mechanic had just finished repairing another duel car and was now about to report his work accomplishment and the parts involved to the garage's cashier in the small office at the garage's right. The car being worked on was driven out of the garage by the elderly couple owning it.

The mercenary then followed the beefy mechanic to the cashier's booth before discussing the costs and time involved to fix the Arbalest.

"Is your car that gray Aston Martin over there?" The mechanic asked as he had pointed at the Arbalest.

"That is an affirmative. So how much would it cost me and more importantly, how long will it take?"

The mechanic had given the car a once over as the attendant began removing the charging plug and replaced it back in its slot.

"From that much exterior damage not ta mention the busted weaponry and the missing spoiler, it'll take about two and a half hours, and that's with all the crew working on it. " He had looked at the mercenary sternly as the latter was suddenly sweating nervously at having to wait that long to have the car fixed. "But since I'm alone at the moment, it'll take me a good eight hours tops jus' to finish it."

After seeing the anxious face of the mercenary, he said with a sigh. "I'll tell you what. I can fix about half the total damage, replace the rear spoiler, and also fix the smokescreen in just three hours but I'll need your help. Other than that, there's nothin' else I can do."

Seeing the mercenary's hung face, he had added with a grimace. " Sorry, sport."

"Alright, I will help you fix it since my companion and I have an important business meeting early tomorrow morning." The mercenary replied before turning back to the car. To him, it was the best course of action at the moment. He only hoped that Green Circle would let them through to Seattle from this point forward.

Sousuke had returned to his seat and told the salt and pepper haired scientist the bad news.

"Ah, damn it. Just as long as we can get back on the road soon is fine by me. But we have to complete the repairs at the next truck stop or we may never even reach Seattle at all," Mardukas said in a heated reply before exiting the car himself in a huff and heading for the restaurant.

-oOo-

As Sousuke again re-entered the spacious four car garage, this time with the Arbalest, he had asked about the bandit activity in the route ahead.

The garage was full of vehicles that were either having the armors fixed, having their weapons replaced or having their power plants being maintained. On the lightly colored ceiling and walls were the various machines and tools used by the mechanics for the jobs stated above.

On the concrete floor were the automated pneumatic jacks that are installed for repairs on the car's underside along with the three feet deep rectangular depressions for the mechanics to move around in as they fix the car's wheels and/or under carriages.

"Well, I can't say much other than the strange attacks in the interstate between Baker and La Grande. But since you just came from there, I was hopin' ya woulda known more about it more than I do." answered the African American man as he had re-patched the damaged outer laser proof armor.

"Affirmative, I do know some details about it." Sousuke said quietly. "It would seem that some 'enterprising' men had placed an anti-tank gun to cover the zigzag part of the interstate in the mountains between Baker and La Grande. They used the said weapon as their leverage against travelers in that specific route to force the latter group into paying them a thousand dollars in exchange for safe passage."

"I see. I'll spread the word on this end and hopefully, the Oregon highway patrol will give **them** the business."

After a half-hour has passed, the lanky mechanic had asked Sousuke if he was hungry. The mercenary had again answered in the affirmative as he wiped his sweaty brow with a dirty rag given to him by his working companion.

As the first mechanic had arrived with a round plate full of ham and cheese sandwiches, the other six mechanics had arrived from the cashier's office in the right side of the garage. They too had offered to help out so that the first two men could enjoy a needed break.

The first mechanic said that they could fix the remaining damage in an hour.

After resting for just ten minutes, the mercenary then headed for the garage's office to pay for the repairs.

After paying for the repairs, Sousuke had walked towards the still open ammunition store to re-stock his car's depleted weapon magazines.

-oOo-

As the mercenary had entered the store, he immediately noticed five overhead cabinets filled with every kind of ammunition for all common weaponry like machine guns and Vulcan machine guns. There was even a spot for lesser known ammunition like Gauss gun needles and blast cannon rounds.

As for the weapons themselves, only a select few were visible due to space constraints. Instead, a thick catalog was placed on top of the glass cabinet beside the cashier's table. In its pages were colored pictures, textual data and discounted prices for all the weapons and ammunition on sale.

Also inside the glass cabinet's shelves were small bore weapons like machine guns, auto cannons, and lasers. Some discharged weapons like mines were also placed for variety.

Sousuke had bought two boxes worth of high density machine gun ammunition and another box full of Gauss ammunition. He then placed an order for two boxes of smokescreen charges as it was the first to be used up in all of the road battles that he had been involved with since leaving Boise.

The teenage clerk had also helped him carry the five boxes back to the garage where they would be loaded to the weapon magazines by the mechanics.

Satisfied with the results, the mercenary then headed for the restaurant so he could tell the scientist that the car would be road ready in an hour or so. As he had entered the restaurant's double doors, Sousuke's nose had caught the smell of freshly baked apple pies and newly cooked Creamed Chicken.

So he had made a slight detour towards the brightly lit counter and ordered a chocolate pudding and three cups of freshly brewed coffee. After he paid his order,the mercenary had joined the elderly scientist in his table nearest the large perma-glass windows. Richard did not even notice his presence as he was busy reading his newly bought newspaper. In front of him was a plate filled with half-eaten Oriental Chicken sandwiches.

'Excuse me, Sir but why are you not eating. We will be leaving Pendleton in about thirty minutes," The mercenary had broken the silence between him and the scientist as he was curious at the older man's indifference to his light meal.

The elder scientist may have not heard the question due to the noise that had ranged from people talking as they eat their meals, the radio speakers loudly blaring in the corners of the ceiling, and the shouting cashiers from the counter as they took orders from the still waiting customers were still overwhelming.

It was either all that or he just plain ignored it altogether.

"Sir, I said we are leaving in an hour. Please finish your served meal," The mercenary tried again as the waiter had just set down his own order. The newspaper had quivered a bit as Richard replied in a calm voice with a hint of exasperation.

"I heard you the first time, Sousuke. I will finish my meal right after I finish this article that I'm reading first."

"Sorry, Sir." Sousuke said with a bit of contrition. "Still, don't you find it strange that this place is still full of people even though it is already eleven o' clock in the evening?"

"It may be that most of the customers have just arrived here just like us but will instead stay at the local hotels. And that would be good news for us since we would not encounter as much traffic as we would have if we had arrived here earlier."

In the midst of their conversation, neither the mercenary nor the scientist had noticed the bespectacled couple nearing them until a slender gloved hand came upon Sousuke's armored right shoulder.

"Are these seats taken?" A random person, whose brown gloved hand was on Sousuke's right shoulder, had said. The dark haired young men had turned around to see the amused face of Primary Response Team Technical Sergeant Shinji Kazama.

Shinji was originally with the communications team before he was re-assigned to the assault team for his knowledge in technical matters as well as strategy. Both of which were sorely needed in the field.

Behind the bespectacled Mithril Technical Sergeant was his brown haired fiancée, Staff Sergeant Kyoko Tokiwa. Both of them were wearing light blue improved body armor.

Kyoko was the newest addition to Mithril's ever growing field personnel, and Shinji's partner in their shared PRT missions involving counter strikes against powerful road gangs and some local terrorists. She was formerly a gutsy newspaper reporter and photographer before she joined Mithril.

Her last scoop had nearly gotten herself killed as she had tried to cover a local shoot out between a combined Mithril and FBI counter terrorist group and a tough cycle gang that had holed itself up in a bank. The latter group also took some hostages that they had used as human shields which they placed in front of the bank's front door.

The bandits did this in their attempt to escape the growing number of agents surrounding the bank. It was only when one of the gang members had spotted the brunette reporter taking their pictures with her Nikon camera that all hell finally broke loose. It was the shouts of one of the policemen for Kyoko to get out of the battle zone that had alerted him to the reporter's presence.

The human shields had taken advantage of the unplanned distraction to run towards the waiting officers. One of them, gray haired man in his sixties, had suddenly tripped on the sidewalk just in front of the bank.

Since they were the nearest to the fallen man, both Kyoko and Shinji had run towards him while the other agents gave them a barrage of cover fire.

In their haste to rescue the old man, neither the reporter nor the mercenary had noticed that a trigger happy gang member had broken the window nearest to where the old man was lying before taking a shot at the old man with his AK-47.

The reporter was the first to reach the old man and braced herself for the inevitable as she had covered the old man's body with her lightly armored own.

Luckily for her, her future fiance had taken the hit that was meant for her and her charge. Sousuke had tagged the bandit with a well placed head shot with his sniper rifle and then joined the others in their chase against the rest of the remaining gang members.

The chase was made through the nearby cleared streets both on foot and on vehicles.

To make up for her nearly fatal mistake, the reporter had stayed with the injured mercenary as he was being ferried to the nearest hospital by the ambulance that was also called during the siege. She had even visited him in his hospital bed whenever she had some free time. Slowly but surely, their relationship has evolved from that of a shaky friendship to that of true love.

"Shinji...and Kyoko too, it has been a long time since we last met. How're you two doing?" Sousuke had stood up to let Kyoko sit at his right as Shinji sat beside the scientist who had moved to his left.

"We're alright. We have been told to back you up, Sousuke. Luckily for us, you made a brief stop here in Pendleton." Shinji said first as he had motioned for a waiter to bring his and his fiancée's order to their shared table.

"If you didn't, we would have met you in the I-90 just before Ellensburg." Kyoko had finished for her fiance.

"That is good news, Sousuke. I was glad that the fax I had sent to Portland before we met in Boise was answered quickly," Richard added as his wrinkled face had suddenly brightened with uncharacteristic glee.

Sousuke was stunned for a minute as he had felt a bit of jealousy at Shinji for having a wonderful girlfriend and now fiancée while he had lost his own thanks to his line of work.

"What about your fax, sir?" The three mercenaries chorused.

"I'll tell you all about it later. For now, let us eat as we are still midway to our objective." The scientist ordered as he had begun to eat his sandwich with new found relish.

"Yes sir." Both Shinji and Kyoko replied as they too had started to eat. Sousuke already had his fill and was now sipping one of the three coffee cups in front of him.

-oOo-

By the time all four travelers had finished his or her respective meals; they immediately stood up and headed for the door.

As they were about to exit the restaurant, an eight year old boy had pushed the door inward. The immediate effect was the toppling of the three mercenaries and a scientist to the concrete floor with the only girl of the four being on top of the accidental dog pile.

"Can all of you please stand up? You're all very heavy, y' know." Sousuke had spoken with difficulty from his position at the bottom of the pile.

"How rude of you, Sousuke Sagara to even tell a lady like me that she is heavy," The brown haired girl replied as she had whacked the mercenary on the exposed part of his head.

The orange haired boy had instantly knelt in front of them and started pleading for their assistance.

"Please, please help rescue Grandpa Waybridge. He's trapped somewhere in his old shack behind the truck stop," The orange haired boy said to the four people he had bumped with as all of them were standing up and dusting themselves off.

"Calm yourself down, little guy. We'll help you. Am I right, everyone?" Shinji's hard jawed facial expression had hinted that doing so was the best thing to do in this situation.

"You can count on us, little boy. Now lead us to your grandfather," The scientist added as he was surprised at how scary the glasses wearing PRT operative could be when he is serious.

"I am **not** a little boy, sir. My name is Ryu Isami and Grandpa Winston isn't my real great grandfather but he is pretty close to being one," the boy replied as he ran to the lot behind the truck stop. The soon to be heroes found themselves temporarily stymied at the latter portion of the boy's sentence.

As for the other customers, they either stayed put or followed the mercenaries to help put out the fire. Most of the restaurant's crew also left quickly, leaving a few to mind the store in the meantime.

"A hero's work is never done," Sousuke muttered under his breath as he and the others ran behind the boy to catch up with him.

They ran past the truck stop's rear steel gate on the way to the sparsely wooded field, just two hundred yards, from the truck stop's concrete walls.

The girl's twin braids that were tied by green ribbons flew behind her as she ran alongside the scientist as the other two nearly caught up with the boy.

* * *

When the group had arrived at the wooden shack, its back and roof was already engulfed in orange flames. The only reason it did not fully engulf the shack itself was that the entire neighborhood was already fighting it bucket-brigade style.

A few locals had even pulled a water wagon from the back of a nearby house. Still it was slow going since the iron axles connecting the wheels had gotten rusty from years of disuse. This made it so hard to move even if five people were pushing it from behind.

Sousuke ran inside as he had seen a hunched silhouette amidst the smoke filled interior. He had ignored his companion's cries to stop since from what he could see - the figure may have been injured and in desperate need of help.

The mercenary had covered his mouth with his white handkerchief on his right hand as he went in the burning shack.

The grayish mist had parted as Sousuke continued inside, his sharp hearing had caught the faint sound of coughing coming from his left.

When he followed the sound, the mercenary had come across a gray-haired old man that was leaning on one of the walls, his head hung low as he coughed on his left hand. The man still towered over him even if the latter was now crouching to get his head below the acrid smoke.

Seeing the mercenary, the old man asked quietly. "Who are you?"

"I will tell you later. Right now, I have to lead you out of this place." The mercenary replied as he had hefted the old man on his left shoulder and slowly led him out of the shack.

"Thank goodness, Sousuke. For a second there, we were worried that you wouldn't come out." Kyoko gushed as she had embraced the nearing young man.

She and the others had helped pull the water wagon to its present location. The said wagon was now already making itself useful by pumping gallons of slightly chlorinated tap water at the burning shack, dousing some of the flames in the process.

"I'm alright, Kyoko. Now help me lower him down to the blanket," Sousuke answered as he had pointed at the light brown blanket that Shinji was currently laying down on the dry ground."

"Wait, where is my great-grandson? Where's Ryu?" The old man wailed as he had suddenly sat up in panic.

"He's um…" Shinji started to say when a shrill voice had startled him.

"I'm here, Grandpa Winston. I went to the back of the burning shack hoping to rescue you. It's a good thing, Mr. Sagara found you before I did." piped a little voice from behind them.

The gray haired owner of the truck stop had turned around to see his only great-grandson covered with black soot but still alright. He had hugged the little boy while saying thank you over and over again.

The boy's chubby face had turned redder than a ripe tomato as he tried to push himself from his grandfather's tight embrace.

The other adults tried to hide their laughter only to lose it completely when they saw the boy's face turning purple in both embarrassment and lack of air.

To Ryu's relief, his great-grandfather had let him go so he can thank the people who helped put out the fire. The fire trucks had also arrived just in time to put out the rest of the flames before they were spread to the woodlands beyond by a passing wind.

* * *

A grateful truck stop owner had led the new heroes back to the restaurant, where an impromptu party was later held. Joining them in the celebrations were all the volunteers that helped put out the fire.

Even though wine was served freely, neither the mercenaries nor the scientist had drunk much (maybe a wine glass or two at most). Their excuse was that they had to arrive in Seattle by eight o' clock this very day.

They did accept offers of food that they would bring along their journey. Kyoko was even given a pretty coral necklace by Ryu's elated mother – Hime Isami. She and her dark-haired husband had arrived just in time to witness the rescue of her husband's step grandfather from the fire.

After thanking the group for their quick action, Yuu Isami had even offered some weapons and ammunition from the shop that he owned in the truck stop. Shinji had only took with him two extra boxes of high density machine gun ammunition since he had a feeling it would surely be needed later.

Two hours later or two in the morning, all four heroes had to leave the truck stop. The orange haired owner of the restaurant had also given them some apple pies she had made at her home just before leaving to pick up her only son in the restaurant.

She had even tried to add a few more pastries for the occupants of the forest green Acura TSX, but her dark haired husband had pulled her into a lingering kiss just long enough for the Altron to get into gear and escape in a squeal of tires.

* * *

Sousuke had taken a peek at the car convoying with the Arbalest. He did not remember Shinji having an Acura before. He had reasoned that his best friend's old Infinity must have been destroyed in yet another mission sometime after their shared mission only a year ago.

The green Accura had two machine guns just underneath its headlights. On its roof is the visible signs of a pop up turret.

"Shinji, may I ask what your new car's armaments are?" The mercenary had asked his old teammate.

"Sure thing, Sousuke. My car's pop up turret is outfitted with a pulse laser. Altron even has a smokescreen at the rear for quick escapes. The front machine guns are also linked, if you're asking.

"Alright, so when did you change your car and where is the old one right now?"

"Oh yeah, my old green Infinity G35 (Aesculapius) was totally busted when I covered some escaping local Mithril agents from some heavy fire in a nearly botched mission back in Texas. " The bespectacled mercenary answered on the "airwaves". "I was told that there was a serious intelligence leak at the Austin branch, but we got the said leak and his friends behind bars during the follow up operation. The Austin office even gave me Altron as thanks for my role there as well as compensation for my lost car."

Both Mithril exclusive vehicles were given a newly commissioned laser communication system for short range communications.

This system is best used for exclusive communication between two Mithril teams on separate duel cars. Unfortunately, it is a line of sight system thus it could only used when they are in the other car's proximity.

The convoy had taken the routes Oregon 37 and 730 from Pendleton on their way to the I-82 near the state border between Oregon and Washington. The roads were narrow, just two lanes on both sides of the highway, but perfectly acceptable.

It took the convoy an hour to get to the turnoff to I-82. Still it was worth it to have a beautiful nighttime view on the Colombia River and the McNary Dam, which they had later crossed.

Past the dam, the I-82 still looks undeveloped. Kyoko had explained that the I-82 was supposed to link up with I-84 further south but it was never done due to unknown reasons. There were rumors that a brutal attack by local gangs had the construction halted indefinitely.

Sousuke then remembered the road report given to him back at Boise and told everyone what he had learned from the AADA office.

There were stretches that were never finished, overpasses only a lane wide in some places, and stripped and rusted hulks of heavy construction equipment littered all over the highway.

Not to mention, there were potholes measuring two to three feet in diameter, chunks of concrete as big as television sets, and parts of road that were partly or never concreted at all.

The convoy did their best at avoiding such road hazards at a constant speed of sixty miles per hour as they were trying to make up for lost time, much to the displeasure of the gunners.

"Next time we do this mission; ignore what I said about getting to Seattle by eight in the morning. I would rather be late then experience that god damned roller coaster ride again." sputtered Richard, after he had heaved his dinner out the window.

"I'm sorry, sir. I'll try to keep that suggestion in mind," The mercenary replied while trying to hide a smug smile.

* * *

Ten minutes later after the road had become more drivable; Al had reported yet another radio transmission directed to both him and Altron in the Citizen Band frequency. He had triangulated its location to be about twenty five miles to the northwest of our current position.

"Patch it through, Al." Sousuke replied tiredly. His gut feeling told him that caller may be from Green Circle or its various satellite groups.

"Hello, mercenaries of Mithril. We're very unhappy that your fellow mercenaries and even a SWAT team had attacked our base of operations in Boise and now, you're making the effort to further ruin our plans of blowing up the Seattle algae plant. " The distorted voice said in the rear speakers. "Still, we can still be reasonable about all this. If you would just kindly surrender your very important passenger to us, we can make sure that the rest of you will arrive at Seattle… alive and in one piece."

"We are **not **leaving Dr. Mardukas with you. We at Mithril pride ourselves in successfully completing our missions thus your plan to intimidate us is a complete and utter failure," Sousuke answered quickly, his voice firm as he spoke on the microphone.

"More than that, we know what is at stake in this particular mission so you can take your veiled threat and shove it where the sun doesn't shine." Shinji added in the airwaves, his voice was a little shaky, yet there was a hint of anger in his undertone.

"I see. Well then, I **will** see you in the near future then so we can finally know who would fulfill their mission objectives in the end." The voice had said before signing off.

There was brief moment of silence before Shinji again spoke up, this time using the laser induction system.

"I know I was a bit out of character back there but I was just so mad at that asshole. I mean, he will still kill Dr. Mardukas as well as blow up the algae plant along with a good chunk of Seattle if we had just agreed to his demands."

"I understand, Shinji. Just prepare yourselves for more attacks from Green Circle; I believe that they will throw everything at us from here on. Also, it was smart of that man to use a voice scrambler as we would have recorded the message for future tracing, anyway."

"We will and I agree with you on that last part. For now, let us get to a truck stop first. Altron is slowly losing juice and I imagine the same can be said for your Arbalest."

"That is because we're now using the new laser system for two-way communication. Even if it uses little energy, it can still drain a significant amount of power from the power plant itself." said the scientist as he had borrowed the microphone from his driver. "This is made even more evident since we're pushing the power plants of the cars to their operational limits by traveling for nearly two hundred miles with both radar and the other sensor devices turned on the whole time."

By the time they finished talking, they had just seen the freeway exit for the fortress city of Kennewick. Shinji had asked if they could top off their power plants in the truck stop there. Sousuke had disagreed and then suggested that Altron use its back up power cells instead until they arrive at the city of Ellensburg itself. This was so they could save thirty minutes of the needed travel time.

After they had passed by Exit 113, they saw an orange glow just past the next rise, Sousuke told his friends to power up the Altron's arsenal while telling the same to Al.

As the convoy reached the crest of the hill, its passengers had seen a wrecked and burning van just 150 yards down the road.

The wreck itself was straddling the double yellow lane markings in the road's middle. As the convoy had gotten closer to the wreck, no signs of life or any activity were seen.

As they slowly passed it by, Kyoko had reported it to the Kennewick police. The wrecked van is a light green General Motors Company Savanna Passenger Van LS G1500 with two charred bodies inside.

She let out a surprised gasp as she also saw a spray painted green circle around the burning vehicle. As soon as Kyoko had told everyone about the green circle, the convoy immediately took off as far away from the wreck as they could.

* * *

The next half-hour could only be summed up in one word – quiet. As far as the occupants of both cars in the convoy were concerned, it was better this way as it had given them the chance to calm their frazzled nerves after all the previous excitement.

From the road signs the convoy had passed by, they were now approaching the fortress city of Yakima. Again, Shinji had asked if they could top off to save time later. And again, Sousuke had refused since he believed they could still reach Ellensburg within the given time period.

Just after the convoy had passed by Selah's city limits, a pair of flashing lights and a shrill siren had caught their attention. A pair of Yakima police cruisers was following them from a distance, their sirens blaring.

The two vehicles had pulled up to the side of the road, and their drivers dismounted while waiting for the cruisers to catch up to them.

"A pleasant good evening, sirs and… madam. Routine inspection, y' see." The red-haired cop had told them as he had inspected the cars for contraband and such. The cruisers were now parked just behind the Mithril vehicles.

"Hey, Frank. I think these guys are the ones who saved Old Man Waybridge in Pendleton a few hours ago," His younger partner said as he too had left the safety of his patrol car. The other two patrolman had remained in their vehicles in case of trouble.

"Well I think you're jokin', Harry. How can you even prove that they actually saved him?" scoffed Frank, he was simply mind-boggled at the naivety of his rookie partner.

"Actually, we did save him. This coral necklace was given to me by Mrs. Hime Isami for helping the townspeople put out the fire," Kyoko replied as she had exited the car and showed her new necklace that she had worn to the stumped officers.

'Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle. The color choice and design does fit Mrs. Isami's handiwork. My wife even has a similar bauble back home," Frank said as he had scratched his head when he realized his mistake. "Well then, you guys can leave. Sorry for the trouble we caused."

"That's alright. I'm just glad that it's over," Shinji replied as he opened the driver side door of the Altron and went in. Kyoko and Sousuke followed his example before the convoy continued their journey.

* * *

Thirty minutes after the brief encounter with the Yakima police, both vehicles were coming down the mountains of Kititas County. Just two miles away lies the junction of I-82 and I-90 and beyond that the fortress city of Ellensburg.

Suddenly, their cars' radar had picked up four objects approaching them fast from their rear. Moments later, Shinji had seen four headlight beams pierce the darkness behind them.

He told Sousuke about the pursuing motorcycles, based on the number as well as the distance of the headlights from each other, as seen from his rear view and side view mirrors and the number of blips. He had also swerved to the right, to avoid being hit by the lead car's smokescreen.

While her betrothed was warning their friend about the incoming cyclists, Kyoko was already activating the Altron's weapons and targeting computers. Al was doing the same in the Arbalest as soon as his driver had given the spoken command.

Again, the pop up turrets were raised in tandem with the armored panels for the smokescreens. In a span of three seconds after Shinji had seen the headlight beams; both cars have now bared their fearsome fangs.

The lead cyclist hand had signaled his cohorts to surround the two-car convoy before he tried to shoot the Altron's rear tires. Two of the cycles behind him had accelerated quickly to flank the Altron and Arbalest as the cyclists broke ranks.

Kyoko had centered the right one on her cross hairs and fired a single beam at the cycle's front tire, puncturing it.

When its front wheel's tire was blown off, the cyclist had lost control of his ride. He wisely chose to jump off his skidding bike, rather than try to regain control. The bike itself slid on the concrete pavement, yellow sparks trailing behind it.

The biker had rolled along just behind his skidding machine, groaning in pain when he stopped. His friends nearly ran him over as they had tried to get out of the activated smokescreens' blinding white cloud.

His partner in crime, who was trying to outflank the Arbalest on its left side, had only gotten off a few rounds off his bike's machine gun before his own bike's front wheel was blown off as well.

He never saw the telltale flash before he was thrown off roughly by the bike's uncontrollable movements. The only thing that he had later remembered was the loud sound of a buzzing insect just before he was roughly thrown out.

The last two bikers were furious that the two cars were still not disabled so they poured everything they had on the both cars' side and rear armor.

Even so, their collective aim was so messed up by the white cloud surrounding them that more than half of their shots had missed their intended targets anyway while the those that did hit only chipped some part of the cars' rear armor.

They were still hoping that a round or two may pass through a chink in the cars' armor and either hit the driver or gunner or even disable the cars' power plant themselves.

The bikers were so intent on pounding the two cars with machine gun fire as well as trying to escape the smokescreen that they had never noticed that their targets' turrets were now aimed at them until it was too late.

Both cycles had crashed at the same time, their riders having the presence of mind to jump off quickly before their cycles hit the road with a loud screech.

Satisfied that the cyclists were thoroughly beaten, the two cars had stopped at the road side. The mercenaries had left the safety of their vehicles to check up on them, while the scientist radioed the Ellensburg police.

The scientist did not even had to wait long before the road ahead came alive with two heavily armed and armored police cruisers, their sirens blaring and their flashing lights piercing the darkness.

The gunner of the lead car had gotten out and approached the apprehended bikers with a confident gait. He was a big man with a belly to match. Yet, in the glare of the flashing red and blue police lights, he still made a very intimidating figure.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Robert and his little friends. It would seem that y'all have ta give me a pretty good story on why you attacked these brave travelers," The broad shouldered man said as he had stopped in front of the red haired lanky biker.

The biker himself had tried to look surprised as he spoke, his left hand nervously clutching his busted helmet.

"Um, fancy meetin' you here, Uncle Barry. Of all the places we had ta meet, it had to be here in the interstate on the outskirts of town."

"Don't you Uncle Barry me, boy. I know 'bout yer secret dealings with Green Circle. Didn't your parents and I tell you that they're bad news, and yet you and your pea-brained pals still went and made a deal with them!?" The burly man sighed as he shook his head ruefully. "This calls fer extreme measures and I mean extreme."

'How extreme would it be, Chief Harrison?" asked another biker, his gelled hair dyed in a mint green shade.

"It's just that I had one of my deputies radio the dispatcher so Kelly can call your parents. They're probably on their way to the station now too," Chief Harrison answered as he had taken a quick peek at his new Seiko wristwatch.

The four teen-aged bikers' faces had turned ghostly white as they imagined the tongue lashing they would get upon their arrival at the police station. The Ellensburg police chief himself had made a herculean effort to hold his laughter at what he would say next.

"It gets better, boys. I had my little sister bring a large batch of her 'special dish' jus' for ya. I do hope you're all hungry. I know I am," Harrison told them while still trying to keep a straight face.

To the traveler's confusion and the police officers' amusement, the bikers had all looked as if they were ready to barf then and there.

"You call that 'special', I've tasted better cooking in my sister's cooking class in their first week alone." One biker gagged as he had looked like he going to puke any second now.

"Bwah. That stuff is poison. I purposely left it for the pesky rats at home to take a bite off it and they died the next day," Another biker had added after he did empty his dinner on the cold asphalt.

"Hey, dumb asses. Nobody and I mean nobody makes fun of Gladys' cooking except for Joseph and me. Ya got that, dip shits?" The brown haired chief of police said as he glared at the two green faced bikers who had made fun of his sister's cooking skills.

"That's because you and Dad are the only ones in town that can even eat that icky stuff let alone have second portions of it," Robert said as a way of explanation to the still confused travelers as he and his friends were escorted to the waiting cruisers. His green face could not hide the grimace at the thought of even seeing the said meal let alone eating it.

"Alright then, since ya love it so much, you could 'ave my share. Gladys will be so proud of you, my boy." The police chief had retorted followed by a loud guffaw.

Turning his attention to the still shocked travelers, he added. "Actually, Bobby's a really good kid. It's jus' unfortunate that he had such bad tastes in friends."

A chorus of "Hey, I resent that remark!" and "Screw you, Uncle!" had immediately followed the spoken comments.

"Shut yer filthy traps or I'll ask Gladys to serve yer lunches too!" The police chief had bellowed at the now cowering teens to the amusement of everyone else within hearing range .

Now turning to the amused mercenaries and scientist, he then added. "Alright, you guys are free ta go. Sorry for the trouble these stupid kids had caused."

"Thank you very much, Chief Harrison. We'll be taking our leave now," Richard had replied for all the travelers.

As soon as the group had entered their cars, Kyoko had remarked on the radio that it has to be cruel and unusual punishment for the teen aged bikers to eat something that made their stomachs churn while listening to the parent's reprimands until daybreak.

"Yes, it is certainly cruel and unusual but it may be the best way to reform the chief's nephew and his friends." Sousuke answered as he put the Arbalest in gear.

The convoy then headed on to Ellensburg for some repairs on the Altron and a needed recharge for both vehicles. The city's street lights were now visible on the near horizon.

* * *

The chapter ending itself is a bit lame but at least it is somewhat funny. The last chapter is going to have its own fill of action scenes as the team encounters more bad guys on their way to Seattle.

More than that, they have to flush out the Green Circle operatives hiding in the algae plant. Luckily for them, they have some help from an unexpected source.

* * *

Preview for Chapter 4:

On the first count, the mercenaries and agents were walking briskly while crouching towards the opened doorway. They had also used whatever structure or wrecked vehicles they can find to cover their movements from look outs.

By the time Luke and his second in command, had counted two, both teams were already leaning on the walls on both sides of the opened door, readying their flash bangs and/or smoke grenades. The scientist himself had clutched his briefcase, with the special defusing kit inside, tightly with both hands.

On the third count, everyone except Dr. Mardukas had thrown a smoke grenade or flash bang inside the building's interior and ducked from the back blast.

The grenades had detonated inside the building with audible booms, with some white smoke and flashes of light coming out of the doorway itself. On Luke's command, everyone went inside two by two with him and and his second in command taking the point.

* * *

The animé I was talking about earlier is Brainpowerd and three of its characters are present here namely: Yuu Isami, Hime Isami nee Utsumiya , and Winston Waybrdige. Ryu Isami is my little other character.

I'll see you next week as I wrap this story up with a bang. For now, just read and enjoy.


	4. Counter Strike

Welcome to the final chapter of Green Circle Blues. It is here that Sousuke and the others have some needed help in re-taking the algae plant as well as defusing the mini-nuclear bomb along with its stolen detonator.

The three lined quote below is both to give you a glimpse of what would be the climax of this fan fiction and also to give you readers a quirky bit of Agent 007 humor.

As for the chapter title, the reason for that is because the mission objectives that were implicitly stated in the story are: VIP escort and bomb defusing.

Both of these were presented as map specific missions in the first person shooter computer game- Counter Strike, which I do not own but Valve Software sure does. There was even a mention of a hostage rescue in Shinji and Kyoko's flashback last chapter.

Then again, it is probably a weird coincidence that the story turned out that way.

As with the last chapter, there will be two more cameos but this time, they will be from a recent released role playing video game.

Added disclaimer: I do not own Starbucks Coffee, although I wish I could.

Read and enjoy, everyone.

* * *

**"Wait a minute. Are you going to do what I think you are going to do?" **

**"What do I need to defuse a nuclear bomb?" **

**"Me." **- Special Agent James Bond and Dr. Christmas Jones from the Agent 007 movie "The World is Not Enough"

Chapter 4 – **Counter Strike**

As the two Mithril vehicles had entered Ellensburg through Exit 109, its armored occupants had noticed that only one truck stop was still open at this early hour (4:30 AM).

The truck stop itself was smaller in comparison to the one in Pendleton but still larger than the one the Arbalest had charged itself back in La Grande.

Its single gate was in the middle of a twelve feet high concrete wall topped with barbed wire. On each of the twelve inch thick wall's four corners has stood a steel turret, and each turret is equipped with two blast cannons.

On the other hand, Pendleton's truck stop has military Gatling guns on each of its four turrets.

As the convoy of two cars had entered the truck stop's premises, their occupants had seen that the buildings were arranged in a U-shape pattern.

The two-car garage was located at the far end of the truck stop or the bottom end of the "U". At its right were the low cost two story motel and its accompanying night club.

On its left was the truck stop's well-known restaurant as well as its convenience store. The two charging generators were placed in the middle of the "U" with a roof above them as their only shelter from the elements.

After parking the cars in front of the charging generators, each one of the mercenaries and scientist had taken turns in answering to the call of nature to make sure someone was left behind to guard the vehicles.

It was decided that the order of taking turns in the rest rooms would be Kyoko, Richard, Shinji, and finally Sousuke.

To while away the time, Sousuke had asked the teen aged charging station attendant about the road conditions and bandit activity. Shinji was already in the garage's small but homey office asking for a quick armor patch up to his dueling vehicle.

Before the bespectacled merc had left, he had given his auto bank card to his fellow mercenary and friend.

"Well, the road itself is a clear path heading for Seattle. Since you guys are in a hurry, you can even break the speed limit if you haveta. Jus' be careful of the speed radar-toting state patrol troopers and the tight curves up the Cascade Mountains." The teen as he was removing the magnetic plug between the cars' battery receptacles and the charging generators. "As fer the reports about the Snoqualmie Forest Rangers that were blocking both lanes of the I-90, the bus that I rode yesterday passed by Snoqualmie Pass with no interruption at all."

As the teenager received the auto bank cards from the black haired mercenary, the scientist had by then arrived at the cars' location looking relieved. He then opened the door to the Arbalest's gunner seat and buckled himself up.

The two mercenaries then left one after the other for the bathroom. As for the only girl in the group, she made a brief stop at the truck stop's convenience store to buy a few sticks of chewing gum and some souvenirs.

* * *

In the men's rest room, Shinji was asking Sousuke to let him have the Altron fixed up to prepare for future ambushes by Green Circle.

"Sousuke, Dr. Mardukas. I promise that the repairs will not take long. They had even bought both a MTB and a BRS maintenance robot to compensate for the lack of mechanics in this truck stop. So how about letting my car be fixed, please?"

"**Mr. Kazama has made a valid point in pointing out the green Acura's damage. The Altron's rear armor was damaged in the last attack. Its AI - Nataku has told me as much and is requesting the same thing that his owner is asking." **added Al from the mercenary's wrist communication link. The said device was cleverly disguised as a digital watch.

"Alright, the Altron will be fixed. Just try to keep from speaking in front of other people. Is that clear, Al?" The impromptu team leader - Sousuke had answered to both Shinji and Al, his grating tone had shown his exasperation.

"**Affirmative, Sousuke." **

"Thank you, Sousuke. We'll be ready to go before you even know it," Shinji added as he had turned the ignition and was already driving his car towards the rear garage. Sousuke had followed his friend as he too had realized that his own car had some rear armor damage too, even it was trivial compared to Shinji's.

By the time Kyoko had returned to the newly fixed Altron some fifteen minutes later, she was already carrying her newly bought items. After everyone had buckled up, the convoy had left the city via Exit 106 on the western part of Ellensburg.

The convoy had been traveling for nearly five minutes, having just passed by Cle Elum and were now approaching the little town of Easton.

* * *

A sudden flood of lights had greeted the travellers as they had passed by Exit 74 in Nelson. After Al and Altron's AI - Nataku had partially polarized their respective cars' windscreen, they reported another transmission on the short wave radios. The frequency was the same as the one that Green Circle had used to scare them off earlier.

"Congratulations Mithril on reaching this far. But as far as we're concerned, this is the end of the line for you." The slick voice was not scrambled this time and was immediately recorded in the car's vehicular computer for future identification.

The Arbalest had made the first shot as the Altron sped up to give the lead car some cover fire while coming to its right side. As the convoy had positioned themselves for battle, their hidden weapons were again brought back to firing position.

The three enemy cars had occupied both lanes of the interstate as they had returned fire at the charging Mithril vehicles. The first two cars, a black Chevrolet Cobalt and a gray Subaru Legacy, were spraying the Mithril vehicles a horizontal rain of recoil-less rifle rounds and a stray heavy rocket to boot.

The metallic green BMW E66 had stayed a car's length behind the other two so it could destroy the Mithril car that would have escape the highway melee.

The other four cars' front armors were slowly whittled down by High Explosive Anti-Tank or high density machine gun rounds fired at nearly point blank range as the said cars had charged at each other.

Still, the Green Circle's two vehicles were the first to explode since the Arbalest's and Altron's turret weapons had enough power to penetrate the armored hoods and continue on to the enemy cars' power plants after the front machine guns had done their part at whittling the said cars' outer armor.

The supersonic needles and pulsed laser beam had holed the enemy cars' inner armor, inches beneath their exterior one on their way to the cars' power plants.

Jagged chunks of glass and plastic from the front grilles and headlights had also rained down the highway's asphalted surface as the battle continued.

Due to the intensity of the battle, both Sousuke and Shinji had ignored the little pieces of debris covering the road where the Arbalest and Altron fought savagely. As a result, their car's tires were lightly punctured by the sharp debris. Their only saving grace was that their tires are specially made to resist punctures up to an inch deep and even then, still run for a distance of ten miles before becoming completely flat.

The Arbalest itself was nearly hit by the stray heavy rocket. It was only through Sousuke's sudden turn to the left and Al's accurate aim at the streaking projectile that had saved them from a fiery end. It then pulverized the Subaru Legacy (Busting Braun) with a combined machine gun and Gauss gun fire.

The Altron, on the other hand, was faring well against its own enemy. The Chevrolet Cobalt (Zulu Surprise) was getting hammered between the machine guns and pulse laser as the smart linked weapons were all hitting the compact car's hood at about the same spot.

After bypassing the two cars that skidded off the road, the Arbalest and Altron had turned their gun sights on the lone luxury (Cosimo). The BMW was already turning around after firing two short bursts from its two linked machine guns and continued firing with the turreted Vulcan machine gun as it was escaping.

With a twinge of regret, the two Mithril vehicles had destroyed the retreating car with their front facing weapons fired one after the other.

After destroying all three Green Circle vehicles, they plowed on towards their objective with the slowly rising sun lighting the way.

* * *

By 5:15 in the morning, the convoy was now passing through the small town of Easton. This time, the convoy had stopped for a quick tire change at the town's truck stop as well as needed top up recharge.

As they were leaving Easton, Kyoko had taken a quick picture of Lake Easton as she could not help but be amazed at the lake's beauty in the dawn light.

It was after that they had passed Snoqualmie pass that they saw a holed aluminum sign that says "Snoqualmie National Forest" and a few meters past it is a large wooden hand-painted sign with this written on it:

* * *

_**Cared for in public good by the Snoqualmie Preservation Society.**_

* * *

The first sign was placed on top of two steel poles while the second was simply nailed on a large trunk of a Pacific Silver Fir.

"I've heard of these guys. They're simply misunderstood persons who love nature a bit too much," The scientist had commented as soon as he saw the wooden sign.

"I have to agree with you there, Sir. " gushed Kyoko as she had snapped picture after picture with her pink digital camera. "I think I can understand their love for nature though. I mean, look at this place. It's so beautiful that it can take your breath away."

"Yeah, if we weren't in such a hurry, I would have suggested stayin' here for an hour or so." added Shinji as they had passed the woodland around them.

"After we finish this mission, we'll all come back and have a picnic here." the scientist said in reply. "After all, my daughter had told me that she would follow us in Seattle along with Belfangan and the others."

Eyes still on the road, Sousuke was thinking about Kaname and how she would react if she was with him in this place.

'Maybe she would suggest that they fish for some salmon in the nearest river as they camp out in the nearest camping grounds,' he had thought with a wry smile.

"Earth to Sousuke, the Altron has already passed you." Dr. Mardukas was already shaking the mercenary's shoulder roughly as the former was impatiently waiting for the latter to snap out of his daze.

"Um… I-I apologize for daydreaming, sir. I promise that it won't happen again," The mercenary responded as he had again focused on the road ahead as well as depressing the accelerator pedal.

"You better, we're just lucky that we are currently not in an auto duel or we may not be even speaking to each other like this." Richard then leaned back to his seat, his arms akimbo.

As the convoy had traveled further in the forest, its passengers had to marvel at the beauty that surrounds them. In the air, bald eagles had given a soft but shrill cry followed by nearly inaudible grunts as they had migrated to their winter homes in Northern Mexico.

On the ground, glimpses of Northern spotted owls were seen as the said nocturnal birds of prey had readied themselves for sleep. These scenes had alternated with glimpses of Marbled Murrelets taking off for their fishing spots on the off-coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean.

At times, the travelers had even saw an occasional sighting or two of a gray wolf, a grizzly bear and even a lynx. The fact that such wild animals could roam around in the forests around the road had successfully changed the mercenaries' minds about pulling over and enjoying the sights.

* * *

About fifteen minutes later, the travellers had seen yet another hand painted sign, this time on a brown trunk of a Western Hemlock. These words were written on it:

* * *

_**Makeshift Snoqualmie Preservation Society toll booth- 500m ahead. Please prepare one thousand U.S dollars or the equivalent amount in Canadian dollars for immediate payment. Credit cards are not honored here.**_

* * *

Every one had felt a rather large bead of sweat accumulate at the back of their heads as soon as they had read the sign's message.

"Ok…someone likes to write on wooden signs a little too much." Kyoko commented in the radio as she had taken yet another picture for her funny road signs scrapbook.

"I definitely agree with you there, Kyoko. And why am I not surprised that the Washington Highway Patrol ignored all of this since they know that the Snoqualmie Rangers probably meant no harm to ordinary travelers anyway based on that sign they made." Shinji added, his chuckle barely heard in the Arbalest's radio speakers.

"I see the 'makeshift toll booth' dead ahead. The problem is we don't have much time to wait for them to move that big log that is blocking the road. Sousuke had told them over the laser communication system. "It's nearly six in the morning and the early morning gridlock may slow us down even more once we enter Seattle itself. We'd better jump over it and fast."

After he had put down the mike, Sousuke had depressed the accelerator pedal hard while deftly shifting the manual transmission to fourth gear.

"I'm right behind ya, boss." Shinji had replied on the airwaves.

Turning to his gunner, he then added. "Better hold on tight, honey."

Shinji had also shifted gears after depressing the accelerator pedal and also counted to five under his breath.

* * *

The Snoqualmie Forest Rangers that were assigned at that very moment, had never expected two heavily damaged luxury size cars to barrel down on their makeshift tollbooth before igniting their Jet Assisted Take Off units hidden in their respective undercarriages.

The JATO units had propelled each car over the large hunk of wood before landing far beyond the dumbstruck toll chargers' hand weapons' range.

All of the rangers present were in awe at how the two drivers had timed each others jump over their log, which was about five feet in diameter, excluding branches.

One ranger had even commented that the cars had jumped thrice the diameter of their blockading log and made their escape as soon as all their tires had touched the warming asphalt.

"Alright, how're we going to tell the boss that two cars had escaped by simply pole vaulting over our big log." The ranger beside the said log had asked his comrades as he stood up from his cowering position.

"We don't. I jus' saw these two paper bills flutterin' down as the cars jumped over you guys," replied another ranger, who was reading a comic book in his pick up truck when the curious incident occurred. He then showed two crisp 1,000 dollar bills on his left hand to his companions.

"Well I'll be. Mebbe we should ask the boss t' make this toll gate business legit," A third ranger suggested after he had recovered from shock.

The rest of the assembled group had looked at the white haired ranger like he had grown another head. "What?! Is there somethin' on my face?"

His companions had just rolled their eyes as they slowly returned to their respective posts. One of them had even thrown a dirty rag right on the speaker's face in his disgust.

* * *

Back at the speeding convoy, Sousuke had finally asked about the faxed message that his gunner and client had sent earlier. He had thought it was probably a call for back up but something still bothered him about the quickness of the reply.

"Actually, I sent them a fax before I even left my laboratories in Los Angeles and boarded that United American airship bound for Boise. I knew that you'll need back up, the moment Andrei had called me up with more news about the stolen detonator." The scientist had told him as well as the other two mercenaries through the radio.

"I understand, sir. " Sousuke replied as he had rubbed his chin with his free hand. "Still, it would have been better if we had all met in Boise prior to the mission."

"Maybe so, but Green Circle would have been onto us had they spotted the Altron heading for Boise," Richard said with a resigned sigh.

"He's right, Sousuke. Kyoko and I actually just busted a recent operation of theirs in Salem last week so it would be suspicious fer us to head for Boise for no apparent reason other than meeting up with you. I'm just glad that we did meet in Pendleton, rather than on the I-82." Shinji had added over the radio.

The dark haired mercenary had thanked all of them for giving him the needed answers to his earlier questions. He then turned the knob on his car radio to a local AM radio station for a traffic report.

To no one's surprise, the traffic report had started with an advisory for inbound motorists coming from the east to take the nearest exit due to a traffic build up at the interstate as it went further in Seattle.

The convoy's occupants had seen that the gridlock has not reached Exit 18 yet and followed the side streets from the said exit, that were thankfully still clear, towards Route 520 before turning at Interstate 5.

Once there, it was a short spurt towards Harbor Island where the Seattle Food Technologies main plant is located.

* * *

When the conyoy was about to enter 11th Ave SW from Spokane St SW, the Seattle Police Department and the FBI had already barricaded the whole block. Dr. Mardukas then exited the Arbalest to talk to the person in charge both to assess the situation and to let them through.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Mardukas but we cannot let any civilians pass... even you. Only those with FBI access could enter the area beyond the blockade," The FBI agent in charge of the blockade had told the scientist in his most apologetic tone.

"I do have the damn access, jus' let us in and do our jobs. You should know that I'm the only person in the world who can defuse that detonator. Even those bastards holed up in there knew it," Richard had spoken harshly while shakily pointing at the algae plant only a block away from them.

"Let them through, Agent Reinhardt. Those people are with me," A calm bass voice with a Russian accent said from behind the surprised FBI agent. The embarrassed agent then went to his men and told them to move the police blockade to the side.

"Thank you, Andrei. I was about to lose my patience with that idiot if you had not intervened," Richard said as he shook the Russian's gloved hand. He then signaled the two-car convoy behind him to continue on their way to the besieged plant. "Let us talk later, old friend. The children and I still have to defuse that bomb."

"No problem, Richard. We'll handle things here. Also, a team of Texas Intelligence agents has arrived two hours before you and had made quite a show too."

After the scientist returned to his seat, Andrei had waved at his "son" and his friends as the latter group continued on to the plant's parking lot.

* * *

As the two car convoy had arrived at the front parking lot, its occupants were dismayed at the carnage that greeted them. The plant's front gate was swinging lazily in tune with the wind blowing from the south.

Dead bodies had littered the front of the main building, all of them still clutching their spent AK-47 assault rifles.

The whole area in front of the building looked like a recently fought battlefield with plants uprooted as its concrete holders where destroyed. The parking lot itself was holed in some places and the building windows were cracked and even broken through.

Burning wrecks could be seen scattered through out the parking lot.

The only things still standing besides the building itself were a few duel cars and a black Dodge Sprinter van with two machine guns in front.

On the van's sides were slits that had signified the fact that they hold hidden pylons big enough for guided missiles and on its top was a sign of a pop up sponson turret.

From the direction of the black van, a broad shouldered man with straight red hair falling past his shoulders had approached them in a crouching run, his facial expression a cross between embarrassment and pride.

From his vantage point, Sousuke could guess that the man was about Kurz's height with a more muscular build.

A petite woman with shoulder-length blond hair curled at the tips was following him and her expression was simply that of pure disgust. Both had worn military grade improved body armor, with their rifles slung on their backs.

"Ah, so you mus' be the Mithril bomb defusing team that came from Boise?" The man said as his face slowly changed to a satisfied smirk.

"Yes, and you are?" Sousuke replied for his team, his expression unreadable.

"I'm Special Agent Luke fon Fabre, leader of the assault team from Texas Intelligence. We were assigned ta assist you in the defusing of the mini-nuke. " The man continued as he had placed an armored arm around his shorter wife's frail shoulders. "Standin' beside me is my lovely wife and the only sniper of the team, Natalia. By the way, every sniper has his or her spotter and that role's **mine**. Get my drift?"

"A pleasant good morning to all of you. Things would not have been as hectic as it is now if a certain **someone** had not used a wire guided missile simply to blast the front doors of the plant open." Natalia said in a haughty manner, while glaring up at her red-faced husband for both his earlier actions as well as his infuriating possessiveness.

"Aw c'mon, Nat. At least, we flushed out that pesky sniper fer you." Luke had replied with a slight whine. "Besides, with some well placed smoke grenades and flash bangs, we can enter that glorified food processor much easier"

"Whatever. Since the Mithril team's now here, let us now make our way into the plant. We'll save further introductions for later," The blonde sniper said as she had readied her M24A2 Sniper Weapon System for use.

Seeing that the conversation is over, the rest had also prepared their respective gear. Luke was a bit surprised to know that Mithril personnel also carried CornerShot Assault Pistol Rifles to combat.

He hid his surprise by telling his men through his walkie-talkie to throw smoke grenades or flash grenades on the blasted doorway on the count of three.

On the first count, the mercenaries and agents were walking briskly while crouching towards the opened doorway. They had also used whatever structure or wrecked vehicles that were in their path to cover their movements from look outs.

By the time Luke and his second in command on the second team had counted two, both teams were already leaning on the wall beside the opened door, readying their weapons, flash bangs and/or smoke grenades. Richard was clutching his briefcase with the special defusing kit inside, tightly with both hands.

On the third count, everyone except Dr. Mardukas had thrown a grenade inside the building's interior and ducked from the back blast.

The grenades had detonated inside the building with audible booms. Some white smoke, and flashes of light came out of the doorway. On Luke's command, everyone had gone inside the building, two by two with him and his second in command taking the point.

* * *

The combined force of Mithril mercenaries and Texas Intelligence agents had assembled just in front of the reception desk in the main lobby. It was then that introductions were in order.

"Alright, so far so good. So which one of you guys is the technical expert?" The assault team leader had asked the puzzled mercenaries after taking a peek further in with his gun's video camera.

"I am," Shinji answered as he raised his right gloved hand.

"Alright then. Yo, Dusty, get in here and coordinate with Sergeant Kazama...and bring the plant's blueprints with ya." Luke said in a stage whisper at the assembled group to his left.

A sandy blond agent had come over to the Mithril side, carrying a set of rolled blueprints.

"Hi, my name's David Ishtar and I'm the technical expert of our team," He said as his introduction to the mercenaries and scientist.

"Quit yapping and jus' do yer stuff, damn it. This whole place could blow any minute now," Luke said as he had roughly pushed the two men out of the assembly.

As a result, Both Shinji and David had fallen to the dirty floor face first before recovering quickly.

"Luke!" Natalia said angrily with both gloved hands on her slim hips. Kyoko was also glaring at the red headed leader at his rough treatment of her fiancé.

"Alright, alright. Here's what we will do. Sousuke, you'll take out the tango guardin' the bomb. Bring Natalia, Dusty, and the 'Doc' with you so that he can quickly disable it." Luke replied with an unconcerned wave of his hand.

"Humph. 'Doc' indeed," Richard said with contempt.

"**Anyway**, I'll take Shinji, Kyoko and Castello ta take out the remaining three tangos upstairs." Luke then turned to two agents standing just at the edge of the circle and who were now pointing at themselves and said. "Jack, you and Speck'll have ta go 'round the back and take out any tangos still trying to escape."

Once his gaze had returned to the rest of the assembled group, he simply said. "Any questions?"

When he heard nothing, he added with a satisfied grin. "Let's get this party started."

* * *

At the plant's sprawling floor, Sousuke had led the two agents and the scientist through a maze of plant machinery and conveyors. Every so often, he had signaled them to stop and take a peek at the corner with his weapon's video camera.

David had already told him on where the terrorists would probably plant the bomb for maximum effect.

At last, the group had found a single Green Circle member standing along side an opened briefcase. From what they could see, there were red, white, and green wires that seem to crisscross the entire luggage interior.

As for the guard, he had gone away a bit to take a look around for a few minutes before stopping in front of the bomb. He had never found the four people that were hiding behind a large titanium tank, only a few feet away from him.

Sousuke had put his forefinger near his lips before tiptoeing slowly towards the bored terrorist who was looking the other way. In moments, a loud crick was heard and the dead terrorist was dropped to the concrete floor with his neck broken.

"Ok, Dr. Mardukas. You can start disarming the bomb now." The Mithril mercenary was saying with no change in his tone as he had dragged the dead terrorist towards the nearest empty room.

The scientist had knelt down in front of the mini-nuke and detonator, right after recovering from shock. He then carefully opened the back panel of the detonator so he could push the nearly invisible switch inside with the flat edge of his screwdriver.

Sweat flowed freely over Mardukas's angular face as he had slowly removed each screw holding the aluminum panel.

After wiping the sweat off his face and putting the panel on the concrete floor beside him, the scientist then carefully pushed the tangled wires away from the blue switch hidden beneath them so he could manipulate it with his trusty screwdriver.

It was only when Mardukas had heard a faint beep that he had let out the breath he was unknowingly holding in relief.

He then went to work on unplugging the detonator from the mini-nuke as well as crippling the mini-nuke's computer brain as well so it could never be triggered ever again.

Natalia, meanwhile, had recovered from her shock at how quickly Sousuke had taken care of the terrorist. She had also drawn her hand weapon and was looking around any large machinery near her, wary for any surprise attack.

Her heart was racing like mad since Murphy's law could still cast its chaotic spell at any given moment.

She knew that until the bomb was defused and the remaining tangos dead, their shared mission with Mithril's own operatives could never be completed and thousands of people would die as a result.

Her fellow agent, David was also peering past the various machines and structures in search of any terrorists lurking about in the shadows. He was murmuring a silent prayer both to calm himself and to ask for divine providence.

* * *

Up above, Luke was already leading his small squad across the overhead walkways as they had looked for the remaining terrorists. He had stopped abruptly when his hand-held radio that was clipped on his back pack's shoulder harness, softly buzzed for his attention. The rest of the team had also stopped and checked for anything out of the ordinary.

Pulling it off its plastic clip and then holding it close to his left ear, the leader of the Texas Intelligence team was relieved to know that Dr. Mardukas has successfully defused the bomb. But his relief was short lived when he had seen a man pointing his AK- 47 assault rifle at something below.

"Oh no, you don't!" Luke yelled as he had initiated a barrage of rifle fire at the shadowy figure. In his panic, the lead agent had accidentally dropped the held radio just as he was grabbing his own rifle. The assault was over before the Green Circle member had even fired a single shot.

After the shooting itself had stopped, Luke, rifle still cradled in his arms, had run to where the man was aiming his rifle. To his shock, he had seen his wife breathing heavily from her close call with death.

Both of her armored legs were splayed beneath her and her Colt .45 pistol was still held by her hands that were now touching the concrete.

"Next time, Nat. Please double-check if someone is about to shoot you from above, alright."

"Y-yes, I will... and thank you."

Natalia's blue eyes had suddenly widened as she instantly raised her hand gun at her husband's direction, her gamine legs forming a triangle to support her slowly bending body.

"Natalia, what the he-" Luke never got to finish his sentence as four gunshots had echoed throughout the plant's interior. The terrorist behind the red head had dropped the bowie knife he was holding before going over the railings himself.

He also fell to the floor below with a loud thump, scaring the dickens out of the sniper nearby.

Sousuke, David, and Richard had run to Natalia's side as soon as they heard the commotion, with the Mithril mercenary holding the defused mini-nuke in his left hand.

"Thanks, I guess it's my turn to eat humble pie." Luke had grumbled to no one in particular as the others laughed heartily despite the situation they were in.

Again Luke's hand-held radio buzzed as it was being given to him by his fellow agent. The red haired agent had raised it to face level and pressed the talk button before saying. "What is it?"

"Sir, we just tagged a certain tango trying to escape through the back. How are things on your end?"

"Never better, Jack. The 'Doc' had disabled the bomb and we tagged the other two remaining tangos. Report back to the van, we will be joining ya shortly."

* * *

Later that day, Sousuke was sitting in an outdoor steel table of a local Starbucks outlet. He had skimmed through his memory of everything that happened after they had stopped Green Circle from blowing up the Seattle Food Technologies main plant as he was sipping on a Cappuccino.

There was a post-mission debriefing followed by a "thank you" party courtesy of the plant's owner where smiles and back slapping was the order of the day. He even had a chance to talk with his foster father for the few minutes available to both of them.

That was before Sousuke was again sent on another mission. This time, he would meet his client in an outdoor table of Starbuck's Seattle outlet in 3rd Avenue by four o' clock in the afternoon.

Unfortunately for the dark haired mercenary, he was actually tricked by his friends and foster father. This fact had become clear to him when a certain blue-haired twenty year old young woman wearing light green improved blended body armor had slowly walked to his table.

She then sat quietly in front of him. Her red ribbon at the lower part of her hair had swung slightly with help from the soft ocean breezes that was common in this city.

"Kaname…when did you arrive in Seattle and how did you know where to find me?" Sousuke still could not believe that his ex-girlfriend was now sitting in front of him.

"Sousuke, I was sent an e-mail telling me to meet you here so I took the first flight here yesterday. I'm still not sure who it was from but I have some ideas." The young woman was trying to calm herself at seeing her ex-boyfriend again after a span of three months.

"Oh, who do you think it might it be?" The mercenary was curious as to who she though it might be. He himself had thought that it was probably Melissa or Shinji who had sent her that e-mail.

"It was your foster father, Sousuke. He knows how much you have been hurtin' because of what happened between us three months ago. He even told me what you 'ave been doing in Boise since then."

"I see." The mercenary had silently thanked his foster father- Andrei and the others for giving him another chance with the one girl he loved.

"Sousuke, I-I'm sorry for acting like a spoiled brat before." Kaname said as she had held back tears.

"Negative, I should be the one who is asking you for forgiveness. Next time, I will choose my missions so we can always be together." Sousuke said quietly as he had stood up and wiped her tears away with his gloved hand.

"Oh yeah, about that always bein' together part." She said as she had played with her gloved fingers. "Um, I have another confession to make. I-I'm now a field agent of Mithril, still on probationary status of course."

Having confessed with her blue eyes closed, Kaname did not understand why her ex-boyfriend was silent all of a sudden. When she had finally opened them, she did not see him at first, but found him lying on the cemented ground still sitting in the steel chair.

His brown eyes were twitching and his whole body was shaking like a leaf.

"Oh, Sousuke. What am I going to do with you?" Kaname said as she had knelt down in front of the shaking mercenary and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"You could do this," Sousuke replied as he had wrapped his arms around her back and kissing her lips as well to stop her from squealing in joy.

"Get a room, Sagara." a gruff male voice had shouted from across the street.

"Luke, you big idiot! You just gave us away!" a high pitched female voice had followed the first one accompanied by a distinct sound of a leather handbag hitting a thick skull. Finally, a loud cry of pain made by the first voice himself was heard from the same direction.

Sousuke could not help but laugh at the realization that both he and Kaname were being watched by all his friends including those from Texas Intelligence.

The young woman was confused at first but when she had seen the huddled group silently emerge from their hiding places across the street with their heads bowed in shame, she had joined in the dark haired mercenary in his laughter.

* * *

For those who were waiting for a Sousuke and Kaname moment, here it is.

Both Luke fon Fabre and Natalia Luzu fon Fabre nee Kimlasca-Lavaldear are from the Japanese role playing game - Tales of the Abyss. And it is in that sub-section that Mean Streets will be posted since most characters from the said game will be featured there along with a few others.

Oh yeah, I had borrowed the term "tangos" from Ominae. Sorry for the trouble, my friend. Tango means terrorists in law enforcement and military lingo, by the way.

So I guess it is time for me to say good bye to the anime/manga section as I will finally post my last story for the Anime Car War series in the games section instead.

After that, maybe I will post maybe one or two fan fictions if inspiration manages to hit me.

Read and enjoy, everyone and good bye for now.


End file.
